Michael Levitt's Blog, page 39

What Are the Benefits of Cloud Computing for Your Business?

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Almost every business relies on computers these days. But to get a competitive edge, you must do this correctly. That means you have to know whether cloud computing is the right resource for you and your business. Therefore, you need to understand its advantages.

So, let's break it down. We’ll answer the question, “What are the benefits of cloud computing for your business?” and we'll give you a bit of information on why it’s important along the way.

Cost Advantage

It's easy to look at the price tag for cloud computing and feel that it’s too high, but the real money number to look at is the return on investment (ROI). Having fast, easy access to data saves both time and money, and most cloud computing services feature "pay-as-you-go" structures. That also applies to storage, which makes going with cloud computing a win-win across the board.

Security

This one's a no-brainer. Many people don't realize that one of the primary jobs of any good cloud computing service provider is to monitor security and prevent hacks. And this is far cheaper and more effective than DIY services.

Cloud computing also helps prevent employee theft, which is an underrated source of revenue loss for many companies. This is why retail industries find hybrid cloud services so beneficial.

Mobility

You need to be able to use smartphones and other devices to access your business data, and cloud computing is a way to facilitate this and make it a lot easier.

The information you can access includes sales schedules, revenue, employee tracking, and so on. And once you set up your system, you can add just about any kind of information to the overall cloud package.

Insight and Analysis

One of the benefits of your business using cloud computing is that you’ll save money. You know which information matters most. However, you also need to analyze it. Cloud computing simplifies that part of your business enormously.

Data Sharing and Collaboration

Teamwork is a huge buzzword in business these days, but you can't do it effectively if everyone doesn't have access to the necessary data. Cloud computing makes data sharing easy, which in turn simplifies analysis. So if you don't use it for this part of your business, there's a good chance you're losing money.

Information Control

This one goes hand in hand with data sharing. You need to have control of who gets access to information. You also need to make sure the right people can share it. Enter cloud computing. It’s an ideal way to ensure this happens, as long as you implement it properly.

How Plastics Have Changed the World Forever

At the inception of plastics, humanity viewed them as a great resource to use in place of natural resources. It wasn’t until the 1960s that the harm from the misuse and pollution of plastics became the new focus. This would revolutionize the way the planet looks at plastics and how we use and manufacture them for a brighter future. Now, we can see the big picture of how plastics changed the world forever so that we respect and use them in more sustainable ways.

Availability of New Materials

When plastics came onto the scene, people viewed them as a miracle substance. They labeled plastic a polymer, which translates to “of many parts.” Taking substances like the carbon atoms of petroleum, you could layer synthetic strings of these polymers to make a super durable, lightweight, flexible, and long-lasting product that was usable for just about anything you could imagine. World War II promoted the use of plastics to help the troops overseas, as plastic was easy and cheap to produce. Manufacturers used it to make all kinds of tools and supplies for the soldiers. This era began the great plastics movement and the innovations of plastics that took hold for generations.

Growing Concerns About Plastics

It wasn’t until the 1960s that activist groups formed to dismantle the production and sales of plastics on a global scale. The world opened its eyes to the detrimental effects of plastics on the planet. But while these groups rallied to make a better world, they only had half the solution nailed. Recycling programs started in the 1980s and have continued with great success into the current era. More harm or good comes from how we choose to handle plastics rather than from the materials themselves.

The Future of Plastics

Now that we have realized that our irresponsibility with plastics was a significant problem, scientists are working diligently on multiple ways to combat this problem and eliminate it permanently. The first and most important step is to make plastics safe to use and more sustainable. There have been many movements and advancements toward this goal. Scientists are working to make polymers that are solely plant-based and could replace fossil fuels entirely. Other advances include a movement toward completely biodegradable plastic. And lastly, people are working to turn plastics back into fossil fuels, from which they were derived. The world continues to work toward a solution and makes progress.

Knowing what we do about polymers explains how plastics have changed the world forever. And with that level of insight, we can make things better for ourselves and for the future of plastics.

Tackle These 4 Causes Of Slip & Fall Injuries In The Workplace

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A slip & fall injury is one of the worst things to happen in your business. Whether it happens to an employee or a customer, you’re liable for the damages to them. This opens your business up for a lawsuit, particularly if you have made no steps to prevent this accident from happening. To improve workplace safety for everyone, you need to tackle the main causes of these injuries. Multiple things can lead to a slip & fall incident, but these are the biggest culprits:

Wet floors

If the floor in your workplace is wet from a spillage of some kind, it poses a huge risk to everyone. Consequently, you need to take action right away. Put signs near any wet areas while you go and get the equipment to clean them. Ensure any spillages are mopped and dried instantly, stopping people from slipping and falling on them. Opting for a flooring choice that absorbs water is also a possibility. For instance, a carpet in your office can prevent wet floor slips. 

Dirty floors

Likewise, dirty floors that are covered in debris can cause accidents. People might bring stuff in from outside - like loose leaves, stones, twigs, and who knows what else. Plus, you have debris that can be generated from around the workplace. In any case, it's very easy for someone to step on the dirty floor and slip on something. There’s an easy way to stop this, and it’s by cleaning your floors regularly. Invest in commercial floor cleaning machines to sweep up all dust and debris, leaving the floor spotless. Right away, there are fewer ways for people to trip and fall over, lowering the accident risk in your workplace. 

Stairs 

Yes, stairs by themselves can be a cause of slip & fall injuries. People can slip on stairs if they’re not careful, which is why precautions should be put in place. Of course, no stairway should be complete without railings for people to hold onto. Alongside this, you should apply anti-slip guards to each step. This is a strip of material that provides extra grip and can stop people’s shoes from slipping on the edge of the step. 

Loose wires

Office settings are particularly culpable of having loads of loose wires hanging everywhere. In turn, people can catch their feet on these wires, falling over and hurting themselves. So, focus on good cable management to keep your wires away from the workplace and hidden below or behind desks. Also, consider using wireless devices where possible, reducing the number of wires in your workplace. 

You can never 100% reduce slip & fall incidents in your business. However, you can certainly put protective measures in place that reduce the chances of these incidents happening. The four things listed above are the most common causes of accidents at work. If you work on stopping them from causing slip & fall injuries, your business becomes a much safer place. It’s safer for your employees, your customers, and anyone else who ventures inside. Plus, you’ve clearly taken action to reduce the risks, which will play in your favor if someone ever does get hurt at work.

8 Signs You're Doing Marketing Wrong

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If there is one thing that a business needs to succeed and thrive, it’s a solid digital marketing plan. It’s a vital part of the sustainability of your business today, and that means that you will be quickly seeing a shift in the number of businesses that rely on digital marketing services. You’ll also see a lot of businesses doing this component of their marketing wrong.

Yep, you read that right. Marketing is one of the most delicate areas of business and you have to get it right from the beginning if you want to ensure that you are able to maintain your business. There is a big spotlight over the top of your digital marketing strategy, and if you don't know where you’re going wrong, it’s going to suffer and so will you. The most frustrating thing about digital marketing is the number of businesses that just don't get it. Business owners aren't always educated enough about marketing, which is why they outsource to an SEO service and to experts who know exactly what they’re doing. The problem with this is that if you are a business owner who doesn't try to understand it, you’re going to struggle with your marketing and you will continue to do it wrong. So, instead of digging yourself a hole about it, why not check out the signs that you are doing things wrong with your marketing strategy?

You find yourself obsessing over social media. Are the likes bothering you? How about those shares you are looking for? If you’re obsessing over the numbers on your social media posts, then you’ll start padding out your social media with more and more posts - and no direction or reason for them. It’s easy to become enamored with what’s happening on social media and worry about social views, but going viral doesn't mean your business is necessarily doing well or particularly liked. It’s always impressive on the surface when you have high numbers and a lot of shares. However, it’s not always an indication that you are doing well. Stop looking at the like count and focus on putting out good quality content, and you will be halfway there already.

You’ve decided email marketing isn't enough. Oh, this is one of the worst things that you can do! Email marketing is very much alive and if you are not getting involved in it, then you have to take a look at what you’re doing! Over half of all customers will sign up with e-newsletters and they will sign up to your business and your offers if you put out good content via email. It feels personal and you can increase your audience simply by having a strong email strategy. You can increase your engagement, widen your audience and reach out to people in a way unlike any other!

You’re resharing - over and over again. That article you tweeted? You don't need to add it to Facebook. You don't need to add it to Instagram. There is no reason for people to follow you on all platforms, and you’ll find that most of your audience settles on choosing one way to follow you and that’s it. The range of social media apps out there makes it tempting to put the same content over every platform you can think of. When you do this, you look lazy - really. You look like you haven't decided whether you have chosen just one social media string to your bow, and you are doing it wrong if you do that. Pick a platform and stick with it, and once you do, you’ll feel as if you have a handle on where your audience truly lies.

You’re sweating the small stuff. If you are putting a lot of pressure on yourself to be perfect in every aspect of your marketing strategy, you’re going to fail. When you focus on the smaller things, you are going to lose sight of the things that really matter. Everything that you produce should have a reason behind it, a purpose. Make a plan and stick to it - you’d be shocked how often you end up creating meaningless content if you don't. 

You’re invisible. If your customers cannot find you online, then you’re going to have a very big problem. Your SEO service should be ensuring that you are at the top of the search engine results pages, and if they’re not, you’re doing it wrong. You need more web traffic and you need to ensure that you are generating the right content for it, too. Get your brand and your business out there because when you miss out on this bit, you are going to find that no one can find you!

There’s no team. Whether you outsource or go in-house, you need a digital team to help you to manage your entire digital marketing strategy. With the right people, you can ensure that your marketing strategies are kept up with. Marketing isn't something you should ever wait around on - you need it working ASAP if you want your business to thrive. Without a decent plan, you will fail.

You’re unable to see where the money is going. There are some very basic things that you need to know in your marketing, and that’s your costs and revenues, how many visitors you get per month, and how your business is working to stay current. Once you know these things, you’ll be able to stay ahead of the game. 

Your website sucks. Lastly, you need an up-to-date website that is going to enthrall and entice you. If you have an old and outdated website, people are not going to want to come to you and sign up with your business. There are so many ways that you can do better with your business, and updating and upgrading your website is the way forward. Investing in your digital marketing is an investment in your future, so ensure that you are on top of this now and you will be doing your marketing right!

 

Clever Ways To Make Extra Money This Year

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Making more money for yourself and for your family is something all of us want to do. Being able to control our financial situation in a bigger way is what many of us strive for, and we don’t have to start a whole business to do this. 

Today we want to show you some simple ways you can make some extra money during your life without taking on a whole new job and taking too much time out of your life. These simple side-hustles will allow you to make some money as well as still enjoy your downtime this year. 

Online surveys 

The first simple way for you to make some extra money this year is to complete online surveys and rate different items and services. The great thing about completing online surveys is that you can spend as much time as you need on it whether it be 5 minutes between picking the kids up from school or an hour when you are relaxing in the evenings. It’s a flexible way to earn some extra money and it won’t take a lot of time out of your day. 

Freelance writing 

If you have an eye for creativity and writing is something you enjoy, becoming a freelance writer can be a fabulous form of income. You can balance freelance writing alongside a full-time job or work from home and control your work-life balance completely - it’s up to you. Freelance writing can be a very flexible and interesting role as you can be writing about different subjects every single day as well as writing different types of content depending on what the client needs. There is always a lot of opportunities to grow with freelance writing and this could even become a career for you down the line if you enjoy the creativity of it all. 

Clinical trials 

Before you worry, clinical trials don’t have to be anything invasive. In fact, recently there has been an uptake in virtual clinical trials that allow you to stay at home and take part in psychological studies and other small studies. If you want to make some money as a one-off, and you have some time free in your day - taking part in a clinical trial can be valuable to the medical community while also giving you some money to put into your savings. 

Selling artwork 

If you like to create artwork in your spare time, you could be missing out on the chance to make some money for yourself this year. As an artist, you will be able to set up a shop on Etsy or even your own gallery website to help sell some of the pieces you have accumulated over the years. This is a great way to clear some space in your home as well as make some extra money for yourself and your family. 

There are lots of great ways for you to make some money at home this year, and we wanted to share some of them that you can try easily this month. 

4 Ways To Feel More Alert At Work

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Are you finding yourself feeling extremely tired during your working day? This is quite common, and it happens to a vast majority of working folk. It can be due to a whole number of things including underlying medical conditions. If you are constantly feeling drained then it is worth visiting your GP for a checkup. Take a look below for four ways to feel more alert during the day.

Change Your Diet

Occasionally, feeling excessively tired can be caused by your diet. If you are lacking key vitamins and nutrients then the body’s way of showing this is to make you tired. If you struggle to get nutrients into your diet then it might be worthwhile looking into taking a multivitamin to give your body what it needs. For example, if you are lacking in iron this can present itself as excessive tiredness. 

Make sure as well as your diet you are drinking enough water. The human body is made up of around 60% water so it needs to be replaced regularly throughout the day. If you don’t drink enough then you can quickly become dehydrated. Dehydration can cause you to become tired and grouchy. 

Get More Sleep

Another way to feel more alert at work is to ensure you are getting enough sleep each night. You should be aiming for at least eight hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. Not getting enough sleep can cause you to feel irritated and agitated, that is not something you want when dealing with professionals in the workplace. If you find yourself waking regularly in the night or waking up with aches and pains then the problem could be your mattress. Ideally, you should buy a new mattress every eight years. To find out which mattress is best for you, why not take The Sleep Shop Inc's mattress quiz. 

Improve Air Circulation 

If you can improve the air circulation in your office space and home then this will certainly keep you more alert. Poor air quality mixed with a warm environment can make you feel sleepy. Open a window or purchase an air purifier to help you feel more alert and awake. 

You will definitely notice a difference when there is fresh air circulating around you rather than stagnant or artificial air. 

Lift Your Mood

If you find yourself feeling down a lot of the time then this could mess around with how alert you are feeling at work. Unfortunately, you may be struggling with your mental health and this can make you feel like you can’t be bothered to do anything. It may end up with a lot of sick days and impact your social life as well. If you find the root cause of why you are feeling down then you can work to rectify this. It may be that you are feeling self-conscious or paranoid about the way you look, or it might be something deeper rooted. 

We hope you enjoyed this article and it gives you tips and tricks on how to get through the day without feeling tired.

Why Rest Is Vital For Your Success

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When launching a new project, you might feel like you have so much energy you don’t know what to do with it all. You channel it into the setup, the clients, the idea - your branding. 

Burning the midnight oil, the candle and both ends, and all of the other cliches about working too hard. And for the most part, it pays off in the short term. But long-term, this is an unsustainable way to run a business. 

The rest and sleep you have are vital for making the right business decisions, delivering clean and exciting work - and functioning daily.  Sleep, like eating and drinking, is a basic need. And our basic needs have to be satisfied for us to prosper.

While there are lots of people who don’t need more than 5 hours of sleep or those that recommend several naps during the day instead of 8 hours at night - the majority of people need to sleep for an extended period. 

Lack of sleep makes us dangerous, too - we will make decisions that require a car accident lawyer, business decisions that don’t make sense, and miss paying invoices and bills that need your attention. 

Concentration

Almost all work requires some level of concentration, and the way to make sure you are capable of that is to have a healthy sleeping pattern. Our productivity is impacted when we choose to get up early and work longer hours - rather than have entirely focused on shorter hours. 

Problem-solving

It is much more challenging to solve problems when you can’t concentrate, and one of the biggest things that small business owners and freelancers do is to solace problems or create services and products to solve them. 

Slicing hours off your nightly snooze might ultimately impact your overall ability to make some intelligent connections and may lead to some missed business opportunities. 

Remembering

Can’t remember when that deadline is? Missed a call because it wasn’t on your schedule? Not getting enough sleep can impact our ability to recall details. 

It can also mean we are more likely to lose our train of thought, which can be detrimental in the middle of some meaningful conversations. 

Immunity

A lack of sleep can be one of the biggest issues for those who regularly seem to have a sniffle or a full-blown cold. 

The more often you aren’t feeling 100%, the more often you will need to change your schedule, which may impact clients and customers. 

It is not just immunity either; a lack of sleep can be one of the driving forces behind anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. 

Anxiety and depression can be a complex combination to tackle, and when you are the sole owner and person running your business, it can have a severe impact. 

Social 

It can be tough to socialize when we aren’t refreshed and well-rested. This can also have a hugely negative impact on our clients. Sleeplessness causes irritability and difficulty forming sentences and having conversations. 

Being tired all day can impact our decision-making, and that can cause irreparable damage to your business. For tips on always making the best decisions: Making Smart Decisions For Your Business .

5 Ways to Improve Your Company’s Network

As businesses slowly reopen their offices, they must have reliable networks. Business networks process tons of requests daily. To ensure your business can handle the gradual influx of internet demands, check out five ways to improve your company’s network.

Reduce Performance Bottlenecks

When one device lags behind the others, it can set off a whole wave of slow connection and, in some cases, downtime. Though performance bottlenecks are a major hindrance to company operations, they’re still quite common.

Utilize a network monitoring tool to maintain optimal network traffic. The tool will observe and detect any slow performance issues, so your IT department can tend to them quickly.

Assess Your Network’s Hardware

If you’re experiencing network issues, first verify that it’s configured properly. A poor network can easily be the sign of a faulty installation.

On the other hand, some wired networks just don’t age well. Inspect whether your hardware is due for an upgrade. Having the optimal IT equipment can greatly enhance your staff’s connection. See why IT professionals choose fiber optics and how your network may benefit from implementing them.

Share Proper Network Usage Tips With Employees

Many people don’t know which online interactions cause the most lag. If your employees download large files, stream videos or music, and use a variety of running applications, they may be contributing to a slow network.

Your company should communicate proper network usage with all its staff. If users continue to use bandwidth-heavy services, you may have to restrict certain applications that slow traffic down.

Compress Network Traffic

Companies regularly engage with large quantities of data. One of the five ways to improve your company’s network is to compress the data and network traffic. Compression is valuable because it maintains the content of the data getting transmitted but transforms it into a smaller file that reduces data size.

Provide a Separate Guest Network

If you routinely have guests that use your network enterprise, providing a separate guest network can diminish their interference with your company’s connection. This is a win-win option, as guests will be content with internet access and staff can proceed without having their connection interrupted.

Inventions That Revolutionized the Construction Industry

Every structure starts on the ground floor. Likewise, construction equipment started out small with a few basic tools, inventions, and innovations. To get a better idea about how far the machines and methods that make modern construction, manufacturing, and material-handling possible have come, here’s a selection of inventions that revolutionized the construction industry.

Simple Machines

In prehistoric times, and even for part of historic times, humans relied on their hands, legs, backs, and brains to accomplish anything and to build most things. Then, with the development of simple machines, work became easier. The seven simple machines include the lever, the inclined plane, the wedge, the wheel and axle, the pulley, and the screw. While it’s hard to think of such basic devices as machines, that’s what they are. In addition, they often worked together to create even more efficient devices. Simple machines still appear to some degree in modern manufacturing and material-handling equipment.

Brick by Brick

Another invention that revolutionized the construction industry is the basic brick. Early construction materials included only wood, stone, and other natural materials. Unless someone put extra work into carving or hewing them, they were rarely of uniform shape and strength. Clay and straw bricks were first created all the way back in 7000 BC. The Chinese, Romans, and other civilizations developed the firing process, ensuring more durable and resilient bricks of uniform size. This made building swifter and buildings more secure and insulated against fire, the elements, and more.

Hammer and Nail

The first hammer was a rock, but it wasn’t truly a construction tool until it was paired with a nail, which the ancient Egyptians invented. Hammers and nails are a simple, elegant, and classic pairing that revolutionized construction by increasing a worker’s strength and creating a stronger means of fastening wood and other materials together. It wasn’t until the 17th century that the standard claw hammer was invented. Claw hammers allowed the worker to drive nails in more quickly and provided the means to remove bent nails as well as retrieve old ones for reuse, saving on resources.

Steel Frames

Chicago is the location of the first-ever steel-frame building—William LeBaron Jenney’s Home Insurance Building, built in 1885. While only 10 stories tall, which would leave it dwarfed by modern office buildings, it was nevertheless the first true skyscraper. Since the frame supported the walls and floors by distributing the weight, the steel frame allowed for greater height that wasn’t possible to achieve with stone or masonry buildings. The design sparked an explosion of building in Chicago and elsewhere, and buildings reached greater and greater heights.

How To Start Working For Yourself

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Whether you are trying to turn your passion into a business idea or simply enjoy the concept of working for yourself/remotely, there are so many more opportunities to do so nowadays. 

Seeing as more companies are offering remote positions, it is increasing the availability of remote roles. This increases the opportunity to create your own business and work for yourself. 

Should your passion be to work for yourself, manage your own working hours, and/or create your own business, here are some top tips.

Search for remote jobs online

Attaining a remote role is often the first step into the world of working for yourself. Remote roles offer much more flexibility and although you might still be working for a company, you will be able to manage your own time and set your own responsibilities. So long as the projects/job requests are fulfilled, you will be working for yourself. 

No matter what your passion is, there is likely an online opportunity for it. For example, you might be a keen writer and want to work for yourself and write at home. You can find writing jobs online by simply searching for them on job sites or social media.

Finalize and fund your business idea

Should you want to work solely for yourself and create your own business, then the first step is to finalize your idea. Creating a business plan will help you know what you need to do in order to efficiently set up your business and get the ball rolling. 

Then, you will need to fund the business. Whether that be to source materials or pay to create a website, the funding of your business will help establish it and enhance its potential to succeed. 

After you finalize and fund your business idea, you can move on to the everyday management of finances, staff, production, marketing, and more. 

Create a digital presence

Should you want to create your own business, then it will help to maximize your digital presence when building your brand. A digital presence is essential in this day and age, especially seeing as there are billions of social media users. 

Creating a name for your brand and reaching out to online customers will increase your brand’s awareness and therefore, help to grow your business and its sales. 

To create an online digital presence

Create a website. Every modern business needs a website. It is how customers find your new business, purchase its product/services, and engage with you. 

Create social media pages. Social media pages are an effective way to market your business. It will help you promote your business and engage with customers. 

Market your business as often as possible. Digital marketing is essential to growing your business’ awareness. Hence, it is ideal to marker yourself as much as possible. Posting on your social media several times every day will maximize your business’ reach.

Using this guide, you can start to get the ball rolling and be on your way to working for yourself.