Is Your Christmas Tree Up?

Christmas is almost around the corner. You can sense it already. The wind is colder and many homes have started putting up Christmas decoration. Many are undeniably bitten by the Christmas spirit. Who‘d be able to resist it after all when it promotes nothing but positiveness, forgiveness, love, sharing, and good tidings and cheer. Most people’s fondest memories are that of Christmas maybe because the family is complete, making memories and eating together. The shopping is something some love, whereas others take to online shops to score great deals. Those who have issues learn to put their differences aside and simply celebrate the season without animosity and with only good thoughts for one another.

Aside from the food and the presents, the most striking representation of Christmas is the holiday decors most especially the Christmas tree. Nothing spells Christmas perfectly than seeing a tall, lighted and well-decorated Christmas tree, whether it is real or not. Kids’ faces light up once they see it standing tall and bright in their homes most especially once gifts start piling up at the bottom. People start preparing this iconic Christmas decoration at different times of the year depending on where you live. Some celebrate a longer Christmas season and got their trees up months before the holidays while some much later especially if they are using live ones, which is pretty understandable.

Increasingly, December 1 is seen as an optimum time to deck the tree - but will that mean the kids’ build-up of excitement will lose momentum before the big day and - in the case of real trees - will there be more needles on the floor than on its branches by the time you sit down to Christmas dinner?

In the past, the tree would be put up on the afternoon of Christmas Eve - so you can imagine the sudden impact on children of seeing it for the first time just ahead of their most eagerly-anticipated day of the year.

These days that’s considered far too late by most people and, again for those who buy a real tree, it simply wouldn’t leave them long enough to enjoy it. And it’s always sad to see beautiful trees cast aside near the bins post-Christmas while still in their first flush of youth.

(Via: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/family-kids-news/when-put-up-christmas-tree-13904925)

In all honesty, there is no right timing for setting up your tree. It depends on you, after all. Whatever you believe in or practices is all up to you. If you decide to set it up way earlier than the rest, then it’s your call. At least you get to enjoy that lingering Christmas feeling in your home and they do sure brighten up any space. Other people’s concern is usually directed at live ones that require more upkeep and might be wilted by the time Christmas arrived if prepared way earlier than it should be. Other parents want to highlight the impact a tree could bring to Christmas Eve and see the big smiles on their children’s faces rather than lose their interest if they set it up months in advance.

Caring for your tree

Now that you have your tree, let’s work on keeping it alive through the holiday season. Here are Cameron’s tips:

Provide plenty of water. As a rule of thumb, provide 1 quart of water per inch of trunk diameter. The water temperature is not important.

Use a stand that fits your tree. Do not have outer layers of the trunk to fit a smaller stand, as those layers of wood are the most efficient in taking up water.

Make a fresh, perpendicular cut to the bottom of the trunk before placing it in the tree stand.

Do not drill holes in the trunk. It will not improve water uptake!

Keep trees away from major sources of heat, and use Christmas tree lights that produce low heat.

(Via: https://www.today.com/home/christmas-tree-shopping-here-s-what-you-need-know-t58531)

If your tree is already up and you’re having a live one, these tips will definitely come handy in the upkeep. Real trees are special. You can’t put the same tree up again the following year because they’re dead by then. One thing you should know is that there are different live trees used as Christmas decors like fir, spruce, cypress, and pine. Different trees need different upkeep. Just following the tips mentioned here can mean a lot to your Christmas experience. After all, a home without a tree on Christmas day feels incomplete and nobody’s arguing with that. I’m sure there are people who don’t celebrate Christmas because of religious differences and all but for those who do, don’t forget to put those tree ups soon because Christmas is definitely not canceled this year or the next and the next.

The blog article Is Your Christmas Tree Up? is republished from The BI Blog

source https://www.brandinfiltration.com/is-your-christmas-tree-up/

Academics: Is It Really Preparing The Youth To What Awaits Them In Real-Life?

Life is a cycle. From youth to old age, most of us experience the same things, happiness, and joys, albeit with a personal twist. If there is one major memory we all share, it’s that of our school life. After all, all of us go to school at an early age and spend a great deal of our day and early life in the four corners of the classroom learning everything we need to know to become a fully-functioning adult once we step out into the real world. It’s for a good reason too because the academe prepares the students for what’s waiting in real life. No, graduation isn’t just an accomplishment or the end to learning but actually the beginning of the first real chapter of your life where you make all the decisions and face its consequences too.

Before doing your own thing, many of today’s youth struggle at school and some actually hate it since they fail to realize the purpose of everything they are learning. If you just try to look past the struggles and see the silver lining in all the endeavors you are facing, getting yourself an education won’t seem like a burden anymore but an opportunity to improve yourself, so you can finally achieve your dreams for real. Not all the time there is something you can do about the outside factors in your life but there is something you can do about your mindset or the way you perceive things.

Changing the way you think about your circumstances is also achievable. Many academics see their jobs as callings rather than as merely a means to pay the bills; people who think this way report higher job satisfaction. Moreover, many academics are, objectively, doing just fine; professionally and intellectually, they are succeeding at a high level.

But it doesn’t always feel that way. One reason is that academics (like most other people) are prone to comparing themselves with colleagues and subject peers. Comparison – whether it is h‑indexes or promotion trajectories – has been shown to be toxic to happiness. It isn’t that glum people compare themselves with those doing better while happy people compare themselves with those doing worse: happy people simply don’t compare themselves with others at all – and happy academics are probably spending all that extra psychological energy applying for grants.

(Via: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/how-be-happy-academics-advise-what-brings-joy-work)

People with a happier disposition will be able to better deal with stress and not allow themselves to be discouraged by whatever problem they are facing in their studies. Be kind to yourself and learn to embrace your flaws inasmuch as you celebrate your successes. We all grow internally and externally and we can only be happy with all these changes if we aren’t too hard on ourselves. This open-mindedness and acceptance of ones’ self also help with learning as it is easier to absorb new information if you don’t put too much pressure on yourself.

Focus on rules can diminish children’s willingness to take academic risks and curiosity as well as impede their self-confidence and motivation as learners—all of which can negatively affect their performance in school and in later life.

Giving children a chance to play and engage in hands-on learning activities helps them internalize new information as well as compare and contrast what they’re learning with what they already know. It also provides them with the chance to interact with their peers in a more natural setting and to solve problems on their own. Lastly, it allows kindergartners to make sense of their emotional experiences in and out of school.

So children asking for more time to play are not trying to get out of work. They know they have to work in school. Rather, they’re asking for a chance to recharge as well as be themselves.

(Via: http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/kindergartners-get-little-time-to-play-heres-why-thats-a-problem-20170911)

The pressure in learning isn’t just felt by those older students but even the young ones too. Although we all know how much kids need to learn these days, it is also stripping them of the chance to enjoy their childhood and not get too overwhelmed by school work. Even kindergarteners are expected to perform better in class when they should be out there playing in the dirt and sand and not having a care in the world.

Social order has certainly shifted since most parents right now hold jobs that require their full time and attention that they no longer have time to spare for their children. As a result, they leave their kids in daycare centers or enroll them too early in school that in turn require too much from the kids in terms of learning new things. It may be good that they know all these things but it also has its cons. And because of this, young kids begin to loathe learning which isn’t good at all knowing how much value a good education is to a person’s life.

The following post Academics: Is It Really Preparing The Youth To What Awaits Them In Real-Life? Read more on: BrandInfiltration.com

source https://www.brandinfiltration.com/academics-is-it-really-preparing-the-youth-to-what-awaits-them-in-real-life/

Digital Marketing Done Right

The world is full of clutter today it is hard to stand out from the crowd most of the time. There is just too much noise and so many other things competing for people’s attention.  You really have to be crafty in order to grab the attention of others and make a positive impact to them. Getting your business recognized is your main goal as a business owner because that’s when your brand becomes relevant to the public and the money starts pouring in. But gaining traction does not happen overnight. It is the product of hard work and a lot of effort, not to mention the money you use up to promote your business.

However, some people are claiming that the marketing that we know of is already dead today. Yes, you heard me right. When you think about marketing, what usually comes to find? I’m pretty sure you all think about money. You spend money to earn money That’s the old mantra of business. But today, you can actually make money through your own marketing efforts. It’s the power of social media and the web. Marketing is no longer confined to the print, TV, and radio but has expanded its horizons to the depths of the web. The Internet is the real game-changer and it opened up a lot of new possibilities that businesses back then never had the luxury of benefiting from. You no longer have to do all the work because you can pass on the marketing tasks to your consumers without them knowing and you still benefit from their efforts.

The core message of their new book is acknowledging that the marketing world, as we have known it since the dawn of the big three (print, radio and TV), is our past and that marketing doesn’t have to be just a cost center anymore. When done well, brands can actually create a profit center from their marketing efforts. Instead of your marketing requiring additional financial resources, what if it generated new dollars? We’ve all heard the idea that brands should become media companies. You may not want to take your company quite that far. But wouldn’t you like to make money with your marketing efforts? 

Let’s take a step back before we look at the future. Traditional marketing has been primarily advertising — the renting of space on someone else’s channel to earn attention and brand awareness and to alter the consumer’s behavior. Even PR falls under that description. Instead of buying an ad, the brand or their agency would pitch their story to the editorial side of the advertising channels. Their goal was to have a story written about them or their offerings that would create the same results as paid advertising would have generated.

Along came the internet and suddenly consumers found their voice. Until that shift, they’d been our silent audience. But as it became easier to share opinions on message boards, forums, social media channels, websites and review outlets, they got louder and louder.

(Via: http://www.businessrecord.com/Content/Design/Top-Story-1/Article/McLellan-Is-marketing-dead-/46/242/79749)

Almost all businesses right now make use of the web in growing brand recognition especially that it is now possible to reach a bigger market without necessarily going out of your way to establishing a branch there. You can set-up online shops where consumers can place orders online and have their items shipped to them. It’s all so easy. If customers are happy with your service, they will even share their experience on social media and give a positive feedback to your company. In return, more people will be interested in your brand and may even consider buying your products or hiring your services when the need arises. That is how digital marketing works and you can leverage its benefits to your brand’s advantage.

If you want to build your brand’s reputation and attract clients in the long-term, you will need to create content that will grow exponentially. It’s not that sexy now, but is totallysexy once you start seeing clients roll in, excited to hire you before you’ve even spoken to them.

This is the work that enhances your skill set, demonstrates your expertise, and strongly positions you in your niche (i.e., building your brand). And it’s a double whammy; these efforts help you become better at communicating your expertise in person too.

You don’t need to do everything (blogging, social media, videos, youtube, speaking at events, workshops, networking groups. etc.), and certainly not all at once, so choose one or two that make sense for your industry or your talents. Then, put all your effort into doing them well. If you have no desire to get over your stage fright by speaking, then blogging might be the best option for you. If you’ve always been a bit of a ham, consider vlogging!

(Via: https://www.forbes.com/sites/piasilva/2017/09/20/what-no-one-wants-to-tell-you-about-marketing-a-small-business/#3f37ac777d0e)

Content reigns supreme today. A lot of a brand’s success has to do with their content. And what’s great about content is that you get to use it for a long time and for a variety of reasons too. It gives your potential clients an idea of who you are and what you do and makes sealing a deal even easier and so much sweeter since you didn’t have to do all the hard work by yourself. Content is used in just about every aspect of online marketing now and it really delivers the result you want if you are just a little patient with it.

Consumers also appreciate that you take the time to communicate with them through the contents you post on your site and social media, hence strengthening the bond between you two. No matter how much success you are now enjoying, never ever forget that marketing your brand will never stop because your business will die if you do. Continue to make yourself relevant to the public and be visible all the time and you won’t have a hard time attracting customers especially if your product or service is above par than everyone else.

Digital Marketing Done Right was initially published on BI

source https://www.brandinfiltration.com/digital-marketing-done-right/