If you’re a word game lover, you already know that word games come in all shapes and sizes. You know the fun they can be and the mental stimulation that comes alongside playing them. If word games don’t sound like your cup of tea, you might be surprised to learn that these games are much more than just a pastime. Word games are incredibly good for your mind and result in long-lasting boosts to your cognitive abilities.
The following will break down why you should be playing at least one of these games—Scrabble—on the regular and will include some tips to help you master the sometimes tricky rounds. With a little technique and practice, you can be an expert Scrabble player in no time.
Scrabble Changes The Way Your Brain Works
A University of Calgary experiment did a study on the effects of Scrabble playing on the brain. They used 24 people in the study, half of which did not play Scrabble before the study began. They were given jumbled letters and were told to identify as many English words as possible as quickly as possible. Their brains were monitored by fMRI scanners.
The study found that the twelve volunteers who regularly played Scrabble were better at the task, which should come as no surprise. What was surprising was that the study also discovered the Scrabble players used an entirely different part of the brain to complete the assignment. They used the working memory and visual perception parts of their brain instead of the regions most generally associated with retrieval in visual word recognition.
The study concluded that the brain was highly flexible. If someone were to make Scrabble a regular part of their lifestyle, they could open up new mental capabilities. The results are being applied to other research being conducted on neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease. People may be able to train their brains to use alternative regions, meaning damage or loss in one area doesn’t have to prevent a person from forever struggling with certain tasks.
Scrabble Improves Vocabulary But Also Strategy Skills
It should come as no surprise that playing Scrabble can boost your vocabulary. You’re always going to remember that one super obnoxious word a friend put down that won them the game. What many people don’t realize is that the layout of a Scrabble board also improves your ability to strategize.
Because of the double and triple letter score squares as well as the double and triple word score squares, many find winning the game involves a little planning ahead. Not only do you want to make it difficult for your opponents to access and use those squares easily, but you also want to set yourself up to use them optimally. Expert players tend to plan several words to help with this.
How To Be Good At It: Brush Up On Your Vocabulary
Diligent players of Scrabble will tell you it’s not just about knowing more words—and it isn’t. It’s also about knowing the right type of words. Because different letters produce different scores, learning words that use rarer letters can result in a massive advantage. Knowing words like the following can be the difference between a win and a loss:
PHIZ (18 points)
QUIFF (20 points)
ZYMURGY (25 points)
BEZIQUES (28)
QUAT (12 points)
MEZQUIT (27 points)
QU (11 points)
HIGHJACK (28 points)
It’s fairly easy to find lists of excellent Scrabble words online. Take note of a few of these words and watch your gameplay change.
Use An Unscrambling Tool
A big part of Scrabble is finding the words you’ve got in your seven letter spread. If you’ve never done this sort of thing before, it can be a little overwhelming. Taking a bit of time to watch an unscrambler program provide all the possible words out of a sequence of letters can train your mind to see these words hidden in the letters you were given. Spoiler alert: there are more words in a series of seven letters than you’d first think. There are over 200 words that can be made out of the letters: P, N, A, L, T, E, S—that’s a lot of options!
The above information should help you see why playing Scrabble is so great for your mind. And the tips included at the end should help you get off on the right foot when it comes to developing a knack for the game. Of course, everyone is different, and so everyone’s mind works a little bit differently. Take note of the letters you struggle to make decent words with when playing and do a little research on the possibilities they can have.
The hiring process can be rigorous for both employer and applicant. With so many questions to ask, so many people to vet and so much research on both ends, it’s an arduous process that only feels fully completed when you can finally land on someone who seems like the best possible choice out of the scores of applicants.
Landing on that right person for the job is tough enough, so weeding out the good and the bad is the risk/reward duty of the interview process and the employer. There can be a lot to dissuade and a lot to persuade in choosing someone, so it’s good to know the good and the bad of finding a good candidate for a job. Here are some key factors to consider.
Lack of Experience Isn’t Always a Deal Breaker
Experience is an asset, which many job applications state, while some say it is a requirement. It is a good idea to not get too hung up on this part because there are a lot of gifted, eager, and talented applicants who have not had the time in the workforce to acquire all of the experience needed. It’s more important to find experience in crucial skills related to the job, like the use of tools or software, as well as other unorthodox examples of experience like life experience. The perfect candidate is not someone who checks off every box, but one who can reach their potential in due time.
Background is Hazy or Has Red Flags
While experience should not be mandatory for the right applicant, a must is a good background and one that isn’t questionable or concerning. A dbs check is a type of background check to determine any criminal activity or warnings, and many places have these kinds of resources to ensure that an applicant is legally qualified. Besides that, there are tools to do background on social media presence and other information to check out. Similarly, it’s good to do this before an interview process to see what they say and whether their account of their background or past is in fact truthful.
Confidence (or Lack Thereof) Is Noticeable
How people carry themselves is a good way to determine if they are going to be a good match for the job. Confidence is a major skill to have that takes years to develop. Lacking confidence is just as noticeable, and in the interview process, you can tell when someone is timid or unsure, as well as self-doubtful. Downplaying their skills or being cautious with how they are perceived may be a sign that they aren’t yet ready to handle the job they are applying for, while confidence is a good sign they are up for the challenge. However, it is good to note that overconfidence could be a sign of someone thinking they’re punching well above their weight.
Interview Process Feels Choreographed
As you can obviously tell, and from your past experiences, finding the right applicant is not easy and the interview process is a defining factor because it gives you time to meet face to face with the person behind the CV. A good interviewee is always prepared, dressed appropriately, and follows key steps like proper posture, eye contact, and speaking habits. A surprisingly bad interview isn’t one where someone shows up looking like they rolled out of bed, but one that feels overly choreographed and planned. Following generic phrases and using vague answers is a sign that they are not prepared and are just doing what they were told, rather than being themselves, which could be a sign of a less than unique applicant.
Provide Limitations On What They Expect
Every job has requirements that you might not want to do but will do because you understand your role and the needs of the employer. Some applicants will make it abundantly clear that they won’t be doing certain tasks, which is a red flag that they are setting up barriers and expecting something they are comfortable with. There are limitations on what to expect, but when they provide concrete no answers for many simple tasks, they aren’t the one.
Appear Knowledgeable About The Job and Employer
Leaving on a high note is an applicant that has done their research on the job, its responsibilities, and the employer themselves. A go-getter of an applicant is one that is knowledgeable, even before the interview, and has made it clear that they know what they are looking for and why they have come to you to find it. This is a sign of an applicant that is hirable.
The hiring process is long and difficult for everyone involved because it requires countless hours of preparation and consideration, but with these key factors to consider, you can feel confident that you will find the right applicant.
When starting a business, grasping consumer attention by elaborating who you are and what you offer becomes one of the most fundamental operations at the initial stages. Once you attract a certain percentage, the objectives then diversify to include retaining them as return customers and attaining a wider market reach.
That is where vigorous marketing comes in handy. However, getting the market talking about you and identifying themselves with your brand requires a smart and calculated move. In the modern age, technology plays a significant role in how people interact. A significant percentage of the young’s demographic to the old are active online on social media platforms. Therefore, building your clientele portfolio through social media becomes the move to actualize.
Do You Have a Social Media Community?
Having a communal feel has, from time immemorial, become a significant influence on human interaction. It gives people a sense of belonging. It helps them feel appreciated, valued, and cared for at all times. Additionally, it provides a space for interaction without worrying that you will have judgmental and critical responses.
For instance, if one struggles with certain addictive behavior, a communal approach in reminding them they are not alone goes a long way in dealing with the situation. It is no exception with a social media community. Give your market a different and custom opportunity with a community that stems from your business.
Live Streaming is the Way to Go
When you want to have an interactive session with your audience, live streaming is one of the ways that will offer instant results. It will increase user experience and engagement, which will, in turn, help social media users associate with your brand.
Through live streaming, you can also promote your products and services. Customer satisfaction is fundamental in increasing your consumer base. Thankfully with live streaming, you can hold an interactive question and answer session where you answer any queries and concerns that your audience may have about your business. Additionally, live streaming offers an authentic approach that customers find pleasant to interact with and become return clients.
Conversational Marketing
Does your audience talk about you? If not, you could use a boost. Digital and social media marketing, as e-innovate.co.uk highlights, is helping you open up your social media platforms for a wider target reach. If only a considerably lower percentage of your audience market knows about your business, even when you have intense marketing, you could be doing something wrong.
A significant influence of social media marketing should have conversations flowing naturally around your business. It becomes easier to align your business objectives around what gets people talking.
Custom Social Media Influencer Marketing
Social media influencer marketing has significantly grown over the last couple of years. It allows you to use a well-known brand in marketing your products to their audience. With such a strategy, consumers will want to associate themselves with your business as they can vouch for the brand influencer’s opinion.
However, the influx of social media influencers has seen a shakeup in actively using the marketing strategy. In such a situation, it may dilute the marketing effect you hope to achieve as consumers may doubt the authenticity of brand marketing.
Here’s how you can make it tight- micro-influencer marketing. Look out for smaller brands with a loyal following. That is your gold mine. Such influencers will have an easy time reaching out to their audience in vouching for your product and services. Additionally, the audience will then reach out to their followers, which will, in turn, help you market your business.
Video Content
A great way to jump on social media marketing in 2021 is through videos. The essence of social media platforms is to have a visual boost. Thanks to videos, you can quickly illustrate what your business offers. Remember, the attention span of the average consumer is a few minutes.
Therefore, a significant percentage will shy away from reading very long content in your business. On the other hand, creating short minutes of videos will quickly grasp their attention and communicate effectively when they are still interested.
Stories are Ideal
The use of stories like Instagram offers a real time consumer interaction that is hard to ignore. It allows your audience to interact with you when a day to day basis without putting too much information on your feed. The stories last for a day, giving you ample time to keep your audience up to date on what you are up to throughout.
Ultimately, remember that technology is the future. Consequently, social media is also part of technology. Therefore, increasing your presence in the different social media platforms will have you boost your market tremendously.
If you own a personal business in this day and age, you have to perfect your online marketing strategy. Thousands of other companies are probably overwhelming your target audience with pop up ads and promotional emails, so unless you find a way to capture their attention, your business won’t have a chance. This brings us to landing pages and the critical role they play in encouraging your audience to take action.
Landing pages can come into play during various stages of an online marketing campaign. From the very beginning, i.e., attracting your target customers’ attention to your product and its unique features, up until the final stage during which the customer is checking out and finalizing their purchase. If you feel like your marketing plan has become obsolete and isn’t working as it should, you need to read this article. With the year coming to an end, it’s the perfect time to round up the top 6 performing landing page builders of the year. Let’s get started.
Unbounce is the best landing page builder app for small businesses with limited budgets. Not only does it have all the essential features that make a great landing page builder app, but it also offers multiple pricing plans to accommodate its ever-growing list of clients. Unbounce will give you access to many professional landing page templates to choose from. All you have to do is fill in your content, and your landing page is ready to use.
One of the most remarkable features of Unbounce – one that gives it an unparalleled competitive advantage – is that it’s focused purely on driving conversions. After all, driving conversions is the ultimate purpose of creating landing pages, and that’s the benefit you get out of using Unbounce. Throughout your usage, you’ll be able to enjoy unlimited A/B testing; an essential feature in all landing pages, although the feature is limited to the landing pages created through Unbounce only. You’ll also be able to use AI optimization features, popups, sticky bars, and other built-in tools to capture more leads. However, one significant shortcoming is that the landing pages of Unbounce can lose their position as a data source once connected to Google Analytics. Although there are some workarounds, they’re far from ideal.
If you are a complete beginner, you will appreciate its simple layout and the excellent support and help center that you can reach out to at any time. However, it’s important to note that if you want to unlock the more intricate features on Unbounce, you will need some professional help as it can get overwhelming for true beginners.
ClickFunnels
ClickFunnels is another popular landing page builder app that has proven successful in 2020. Although both Unbounce and ClickFunnels compete for popularity, each has its benefits. With its simple drag and drop feature, you will be able to use ClickFunnels to build your desired landing pages yourself without any professional help. Moreover, ClickFunnels have an excellent app for sharing your pages with other people to stay on track and keep the team aligned. If your sales team uses Clickfunnels, sharing becomes easier.
Even though previous users usually complain that the ready landing page templates are not always up to par, having access to a marketplace will unlock abundant options where you’re sure to find what you’re looking for. On the downside, the ClickFunnels help center can be sluggish at times. Furthermore, a bit of high pricing makes it hard for potential users to commit to long-term subscription plans.
We mentioned the landing page builder Unbounce before. If you want to know if Clickfunnels or Unbounce is the right tool for your business, MarketingEnvoy compared both tools in an in-depth article. In the shortest, Unbounce focuses on creating and optimizing landing pages, ClickFunnels provides the user with a better ability to create sales funnels and optimize the conversion process.
Google Sites
Perhaps not as well known as other Google products, Google Sites is the best way to start if you are still unsure about building your landing pages yourself since it’s absolutely free. You can take as long as you need to try and test the various features available on the app until you either get the hang of it or decide that you will need to hire professional help. However, it won’t come as a surprise to learn that the available templates are pretty basic since the app comes free of charge. As many people struggled financially throughout this year, the app filled a huge gap in the market and gained a lot of popularity.
When using Google sites to create your landing pages, you’ll be limited to a few themes to choose from. These themes all have the same basic look: the large header at the top giving you space to enter your page title and available space underneath, so you can drag and drop sections. These sections can be inserted in text, uploaded images, or uploaded files. Although the tools only offer basic functionality, you’ll be able to customize the layout, color, and typography of the landing page as you desire.
On the plus side, you’ll likely enjoy using the editor. The available stock layout options make adding and formatting text and images quite a fun experience. Since it’s a Google product, you can expect unmatched convenience when looking to use files from your Google Drive. You’ll simply click on the Drive button to browse your files and embed forms, images, documents, or any other file from the Drive.
Mailchimp
Specially designed to increase email sign-ups, Mailchimp is a highly efficient landing page builder. This app offers a straightforward approach to build your landing pages after choosing from a list of ten well-curated themes. You will even find that the themes are categorized according to the purpose they serve, making them suitable for the average user. Using the Mailchimp landing page builder, you’ll be able to create unlimited landing pages – regardless of the plan you’ve subscribed to. That means that you can do that even with the free-forever plan!
To add to its convenience, you won’t have to struggle with adjusting your landing pages for multiple devices. The Mailchimp landing page builder has taken care of that for you since all their templates are responsive and mobile-friendly. Moreover, you’ll be able to access quality insights by generating their landing page reports. These reports will notify you of how well your pages are performing, based on the key metrics of subscribers, visits, and clicks. The landing page builder also gives you the ability to edit your landing pages, URL, title, tracking settings, or content whenever you need to make adjustments following the report generation.
Unfortunately, the Mailchimp landing page builder has some serious shortcomings. The most obvious downside of this builder is the lack of A/B testing functionality. Moreover, the builder blocks special forms of content, like testimonials, quizzes, and image carousels. Another downside is that the search engines can’t index your landing pages, which can seriously hinder your SEO efforts.
You can enjoy Mailchimp for free if you have 2,000 contacts or less and limit your emails to 10,000 emails/month. If you are interested in adding more contacts, you can pay the extra fees and unlock premium features like access to more email templates and custom branding.
Leadpages
Leadpages will make your life easier as it allows you to market and sell your product through the same landing page. This means that you won’t risk losing potential customers who usually lose interest while shifting between multiple pages until they find what they’re looking for. Leadpages is well known for its pragmatic interface and easy to use editor. It even gives you the ability to filter templates by their conversion rate, which Leadpages has taken the liberty of measuring themselves. For 37 USD/month, you can purchase the Standard package, which is pretty impressive at this price. However, if you want to build an online store for your product, the Premium account will allow you to add a checkout form for an integrated customer buying experience.
Instapage
If you are interested in building multiple landing pages to market and sell your full-range of products, Instapage will give you what you’re looking for. On Instapage, you can create, edit, and even save your blocks that contain information like descriptive text and headers. You don’t need to rebuild your blocks again; you can simply retrieve the ones you previously archived.
This app is also great for teams as it allows different members to edit or add their comments on the original page and take actions accordingly. Teams working remotely during lockdown this year found this feature particularly helpful. Instapage is a little on the pricier side as a Business account will cost you around 200 USD/month. The enterprise account is even more expensive, but it gives you the option to update your blocks all at once after having saved them previously.
Choosing the right landing page builder will take some research on your side. However, the above list of top-performing builder apps in 2021 will give you an idea about what to expect and make your job easier. Start by identifying your specific needs and budget and then take it from there. Don’t let the options overwhelm you; instead, consider it an opportunity to enhance your online marketing and give it the boost it needs.
There are ways of protecting the company from future concerns of product liability before they arise. Despite enormous disparities, most companies have a similar concern about product liability, brick-and-mortar operations, and virtual storefronts. On your website, a disclaimer claiming that you are not responsible for issues would not protect you from being responsible for the product you sell. But don’t worry, before they happen, there are ways to safeguard your business, online and offline, from potential product liability issues.
The value of a comprehensive business insurance policy is recognized by most brick-and-mortar retailers. The store owner does not want to be on the hook for an expensive medical bill if a shopper trips and breaks an arm. They want to rest assured that maintenance costs are not going to ruin them if a storm roars in and blows the roof of the joint. In today’s writing, we will look closely at what product liability is and some proven risk reduction techniques. You’ll probably save yourself a lot of grief down the line by doing your due diligence.
What Is Product Liability?
Product liability is the responsibility for harm incurred by the product on the part of the manufacturer, supplier, or seller of the product. Product liability-related lawsuits are based on negligence, strict liability, breach of contract, or numerous claims for consumer protection. At the state level, most product liability laws are decided and differ from state to state. Claims for product liability negligence are generally those alleging a design fault, a production defect, or marketing defects due to failure to warn about a possible defect.
Product liability insurance can help compensate for legal costs, such as attorney fees and judgments against you if property harm, sickness, accident, or death is caused by a product sold at your business. You may face a potentially expensive claim depending on the seriousness of the harm caused by the product or how cantankerous the injured party feels, so product liability insurance can be extremely convenient to have. To defend yourself, let’s look at some of the strategies you should do.
Deal Only with Trustworthy Suppliers Offering Quality Goods
As most stores do in one way or another, if you rely on manufacturers and suppliers for your inventory, it can be tempting to go with whoever provides the best price. As a reference, don’t depend on that. The adage “you get what you pay for” might not always be true, but in most cases, it will do you good. Take the time to study the suppliers to make sure they are up to scratch with their credibility, manufacturing capabilities, and efficiency. Convince yourself why, if the price is suspiciously low. Chancing a product liability suit to save a few bucks isn’t worth it.
Have Your Website With a Detailed Terms and Conditions Page
The agreement on terms and conditions is a page on a website that sets out the rights and responsibilities of anyone who uses the website. A contract between the site and the user is effectively formed. Terms and conditions often include an explanation or definition of the key terms used in the terms and outline the legal limitations of the owner of the website’s liability for any damage or damage caused during the use of the site.
A disclaimer indicating that you are not responsible for any concerns relating to your product will not absolve you of any responsibility, but it is a good idea to include a transparent and detailed page of terms and conditions that contains some clauses of limitation-of-liability. As advised by experts from Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. Chicago, limitation-of-liability provisions limit what a consumer can get from you in case of a product complaint. In other words, you can place a limit on the amount of money that the unsatisfied consumer has the right to earn. Notice that this doesn’t mean it’s enforceable simply because you have a limitation-of-liability clause. It needs to be equitable, transparent, and conspicuous, and enforceability varies by jurisdiction even then. Still, it won’t do any harm to you.
Provide Detailed and Precise Descriptions of the Goods You Sell
The degree to which consumers can inspect and communicate with items is one apparent but substantial difference between online and brick-and-mortar retail. In the digital realm, up-close physical inspections are not feasible, meaning customers rely on e-commerce retailers to provide high-quality reliable explanations and images to help them inspect products and decide if they are secure or not. If you’re not careful, it can turn into one big headache and a whole slew of unhappy customers one minor mistake in the way a product is described or advertised.
Investigate and Comply With Legislation on Consumer Safety
Never leave a child unattended, for topical use only and includes mature subject matter. These are all examples of advisories on consumer safety or warnings offering information on the risks associated with such goods and services. It is vital to attract new clients to your business, but you need to follow a few rules. Make sure to provide health information on the packaging if you market food items. You should get them approved by a regulatory body first if you sell electronics and want to advertise their energy efficiency. Study the legislation for your business and make sure that all the boxes are ticked.
Purchase Independent Protections for Product Liability
If you feel that your company is especially vulnerable to product liability problems, you might want to look into buying separate insurance policies for product liability. Companies that specialize in offering compensation that protects against harm and damages resulting from all sorts of product defects to suppliers, distributors, and sellers. Insurance brokers familiar with product liability will advise you on choosing a risk-covering policy for you. Just make sure to find a good person that knows the organization you are operating.
Most merchants claim that product liability should not affect them because their product is not overtly harmful. This is a risky way to think. If you run an online store, both your customers and your organization must have a firm grasp of the potential risks. Merchants who neglect product liability are vulnerable to complaints, disputes, and litigation, leaving themselves no remedy but to take full responsibility. Hope this article has shed light on the importance of e-commerce’ product liability.
If you want to give your small business the best possible chance of success, it’s up to you to ensure you put in place the stepping stones that’ll help your business get to where you want it to be. There are plenty of steps you can take and tools you can use to raise the potential of your small business and give it the best possible chances of long-term and sustainable success. So read on now to find out more.
Connect with Influencers and Other Businesses
First of all, you should think about how your business can connect with other businesses and influencers who are relevant to your niche. If you’re struggling to reach new people and have your voice heard, it definitely makes a lot of sense to branch out and start connecting with new people. Those connections might help take your business to a whole new level.
Make Your Business More Visible
If people don’t even know that your business exists, they’re not going to be queueing up to buy your products or use your services. That’s why it’s so important to make your business visible. That can be done through promotional events, advertising campaigns and viral marketing efforts on social media platforms. There’s no shortage of options open to you these days.
Raise the Bar with Your Marketing Efforts
When marketing your business, you really need to set your aims high if you want to grow your business and raise its potential significantly. Failure to do that will only cause more struggles and challenges for your business as you attempt to grow it. By raising the bar higher and giving your team the platform they need for growth, you’ll see progress much sooner.
Training and Education
If you want to go further, having access to the rights skills and talents will play an important role in making that happen. For example, nurses educated at the doctoral level can do more and have greater career prospects. And the same applies to any level of qualification. Educate yourself, gain new qualifications and offer relevant training to your team of employees, no matter what industry you’re operating in.
Find New Investors
If you feel as if your business is currently being limited and held back by a lack of funding meaning you can’t do all of the things you want to with your company, it’s important to consider looking for external investment. When you have investors backing your company and giving it the financial push that you feel it needs, you’ll have much more scope to take risks and push the business in new directions.
So, if you want to make sure your business has the best possible chance of success and has the highest possible potential, make the most of the tips and ideas that have been outlined here. The sooner you start working to make this happen, the greater the eventual outcomes will be.
