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From Awareness to Loyalty: Understanding the Journey of Nonprofit Supporters and How to Engage Them
As a nonprofit grows and gains new members, volunteers, and donors, you’ll start to recognize core differences in how different groups of people act and react to marketing materials. A devoted volunteer might take a much more favorable view of your campaigns than someone that hasn’t heard of your organization before, for example.

It is essential that nonprofits understand how to communicate with these different stages in order to better market to them. At its most basic, nonprofits need to master the rule of seven before moving on to later-stage customer relationships. In this article, we’ll guide nonprofits through the different stages of the customer journey, demonstrating exactly how they should engage their supporters throughout their ongoing familiarization.

What is the Nonprofit Customer Journey?

As a person becomes more familiar with your nonprofit, the extent to which they support, engage, and help market for your cause will shift. Of course, people that have only just stumbled across your nonprofit aren’t going to have the level of support and loyalty that a long-term donor has.

In order to create better marketing materials and communications, nonprofits need to know how to relate to donors across all levels of their customer journey. Typically, this journey is split into three core sections:
- Awareness
- Consideration and Donation
- Time Donation
Awareness

Marketing for nonprofits always starts with the awareness stage. This is the first point of contact between an organization and the potential donor. At this stage, they don’t have a stake in your nonprofit and are have only come across either a marketing post, a blog, or some other piece of content that you’ve put out into the world.

When marketing to people within the awareness stage, you should focus on showing the real-world positives that your nonprofit creates. Whether you use finished projects that you’ve terminated in the past or materials which demonstrate the good you’re delivering, these should be your front line of marketing.

The awareness stage is about increasing recognition and ensuring that people remember the good you’ve done when they see your name. You’re not asking for donations, nor are you trying to get these people to join your nonprofit. This stage, as its title suggests, is all about building awareness.

Consideration and Donation

During the consideration stage, people are familiar with your nonprofit and what good you do in the world. At this point, you can move into quantified marketing that shows what their donation would actively result in.

Using quantified statistics, you could demonstrate that their donation of $10 would have a certain real-world impact. Showing how they can be a part of the good that they encounter in the awareness stage will help urge people to donate to your nonprofit.

Donations are typically the first stage of involving members of a nonprofit. At this stage, the time and frequency of a recurring donation will dictate how you manage your connections going forward. As a person donates more of their money over a longer period to your cause, their natural relationship with you will build.

It’s important to show your gratitude over time, ensuring that those that move from consideration to donation feel valued for their contributions.

Time Donor (Volunteers)

The final stage, which is often overlooked within the world of nonprofit marketing, is the relationship between your organization and its most valuable assets – those that offer their time. The vast majority of nonprofits are able to continue running due to the hours of free labor that volunteers will offer.

Those that are willing to donate their own time are incredibly impactful to your organization. While donating money is one thing, these hourly shifts ensure the longevity of your nonprofit and help you scale toward new horizons.

When dealing with people that are volunteers, your marketing should be extremely personalized. You’re no longer dealing with a potential mass of new donors. Each one of these people has given up hours of their life to help achieve your vision.

Your marketing communications here should never focus on donations, and should be entirely grateful. Focus on the good that they’ve achieved, and how you are – together – building toward a better future.

Don’t underestimate the importance of volunteers in your nonprofit.

Why Is Shaping Communication so Important?

Communication does not have the same effect on every single person. On the contrary, each and every person will react differently to messaging they encounter. When it comes to the nonprofit industry, using the wrong communication style can be disastrous – impacting both new and established donors.

Changing the focus of your marketing campaigns to match the current stage that a customer is in allows for a much greater degree of personalization. Customer segmentation and personalization are the backbones of the marketing industry, with over 70% of all consumers expecting a high degree of personalized content.

Altering a nonprofit’s marketing materials will ensure that different groups react more positively to your communications:
- New Contacts – If you ask people in the awareness stage for donations, you’re instantly slamming the door on that person and making them feel uncomfortable. Understanding that your tone will shift over time will allow you to market appropriately to newer audiences.
- Established Donors – If you patronize established donors with materials aimed at new people, you’ll start to chip away at their loyalty. Personalize your voice to ensure that it’s more thankful, full of gratitude, and highlights how appreciative you are for all their help.
Understanding how to alter your marketing materials for these different stages will lead to a higher uptake with new clients and increased loyalty with older connections. Ultimately, this is a total win-win for your nonprofit.

Final Thoughts

For nonprofits to achieve success across the customer journey, they need to understand the unique perspectives, behaviors, and styles of communication that work for each archetypal supporter. By altering marketing tactics and tones across these three main stages, a nonprofit is able to engage its audience to a greater extent.

As they do this, nonprofits will rapidly find that their marketing materials stretch further, gain more interactions, and help streamline the development of customer relationships across the entire donor lifecycle.
March 18, 2023
Tech Resources to Empower Those Dealing With Domestic Violence

243 million women and girls typically experience intimate partner violence in a single year, but the U.S. has seen a growing number of domestic violence cases since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, calls to helplines increased as much as five times amid the pandemic.

Domestic violence has spiked throughout the U.S. For example, Portland, Oregon saw a 22% increase in domestic violence arrests while domestic violence calls increased by 27% in Jefferson County, Alabama since 2020. More people have also downloaded spyware as at least 7% of Americans report having been the victim of cyberstalking. However, of those arrested for misdemeanor stalking, only 24% were convicted while 76% were not.

For marginalized groups, rates of abuse have increased by 50% or more. These same groups were also affected in other ways by the pandemic, including higher likelihood of infection and higher unemployment.

What exactly caused the rise in abuse? Increased stressors such as concerns about security and health, unemployment and financial worries, and cramped living conditions amid lockdown are some of the contributing factors. Others include increased opportunities for isolation at home with abusers, restricted movement due to lockdown, and deserted public spaces. Fewer safeguards like less interactions between mandated reporters and families, inconsistent reporting procedures amid the pandemic, and the shift to telemedicine reducing access to safe screening have also led to the uptick in abuse.

Typically only 34% of people injured by an intimate partner receive medical care while 66% receive no medical care for their injuries. What’s more, nearly half of domestic violence incidents go unreported. Why exactly is domestic violence not being reported?

One of the big reasons is social pressure; many victims feel too embarrassed to report. People can feel pressured by family or friends to remain silent or live in smaller communities that lack privacy. Others might even fear they won’t be believed by others.

Knowing the Signs of Abuse

Another reason for domestic violence going unreported is the psychological effects of abuse, which can also make it harder to leave. A “make-up” period strengthens the relationship, making victims believe the abuse will end. Abuse can also isolate victims from friends and family. Prolonged abuse can even reduce people’s confidence and self esteem.

Strong dependence on the partner can also make it harder to leave an abusive relationship, especially if the other person provides financial support to pay bills and necessities. The loss of immigration status or deportation can definitely motivate someone to endure the abuse as well as the possibility of losing custody of their children.

Abusers sometimes use pets to control victims. 71% of women in domestic violence shelters had their abuser threaten, injure, or kill a pet as a means of control. Nearly half of victims actually stay in abusive situations rather than leave their pet. 52% of survivors in shelters had to leave their pet with their abuser while 25% of victims returned to their abuser because of their pets.

How to Stop Domestic Violence

Fortunately, there are ways you can help stop domestic violence. One is to learn how to spot early warning signs as domestic violence often doesn’t happen immediately. These could be jealousy arising from time spent with friends or away from your partner, threatening violence against you or the ones you love, and intentionally damaging your property among other signs.

In most cases of domestic violence, a friend or family member is aware of the abuse. 19% of people know a friend or family member who has been the victim of domestic violence while 17% know someone who has subjected another person to some form of domestic violence. If you suspect someone to be in immediate danger, call the police. It is also a good idea to make sure to document every incident of domestic violence you witness.

If someone confides in you for help, listen without judgment, ask how you can help, and check in regularly with the person. If someone you know is thinking about leaving, keep your phone with you and have gas in your car as well as establish a meeting place or escape plan in advance. You can also support local organizations by helping to raise awareness in your community, making donations to local shelters and organizations, and refusing to support content that glorifies violence.

In Conclusion

It is important to know your local services as someone experiencing violence may not be able to research shelters and services. As fewer than one in 10 people who are victims of violence actually contact a victim service provider for support, you can provide aid by finding organizations, local hotlines, and shelters that are ready to help.

May 16, 2022
Quality of Sleep: Why it Matters

Recent world and national events have heightened stress, even more, bringing the total portion of stressed Americans to 80%. The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine is a domineering contributor, alongside inflation’s price increases and supply chain concerns that have damaged product availability.

Burnout is Increasing

National surveys are beginning to reflect how hardship is negatively affecting work ethic and work and motivation. The result of this mounting stress has pushed a current 25% of Americans to identify as “approaching burnout”. A large majority, over 60% of U.S. adults concur that they “desperately need a vacation”. Additionally, 2 in 3 Americans report being “often mentally tired even when they haven’t been physically active,” revealing the holistic exhaustion that’s nagging U.S. society.

This growing stress is producing poor sleep, which negatively affects productivity, with studies revealing significant economic effects as a result. Individuals who report getting a consistent seven to eight hours of sleep per night have been proven to be 29% more productive during the day than those who sleep less than seven hours. Affecting performance on a national scale, this lost productivity results in a 2.28% American GDP decrease, and a loss of a whopping 1.2 million working days each year. Poor sleep produces poor performance.

The Benefits of Quality Sleep

A few of the myriad of benefits that good sleep brings include enhanced focus and memory, aiding both short-term and long-term memory. Work performance has been proven to receive an enhancement as well, as cognitive function is ignited and better oriented toward productivity. Emotional responses are better balanced, giving well-rested individuals the emotional intelligence to respond in both logically and emotionally appropriate manners. Lastly, the combination of these perks along with others produces more fortified and healthy relationships among those who sleep sweetly.

While there are many proclaimed keys to good sleep, two simple ones bring more Z’s via comfort. First, the color scheme of your room changes how you relax in it. Neutral and deep hues produce more relieving and soothing ambiances according to psychology, producing a wind-down environment. Blue, purple, gray, and cream tones have been shown to settle the mind. If your room doesn’t need a facelift, studies show that opting for these colors as pillowcases proves effective in augmenting better sleep.

Research also shows that clean sheets elicit improved sleep. Washing new sheets after buying them, a step many customers skip, removes the stiffening properties added to them for display. Investing in additive-free laundry detergent helps significantly, decreasing the itchiness and skin irritability that some sheets seem to produce. Lastly, washing bedding more often has been shown to increase 73% of adults’ commitment and excitement to sleep, with clean sheets generating cleaner, more beneficial sleep.

When investing in better bedding, compare thread counts. Thread counts ranging from 200 to 800 connote softer fabrics that are longer lasting with increased durability. Using your senses, and touching sheets of various thread counts is the best way to decipher which is right for you. Additionally, switching sheets to match the outside temperature has been proven effective. Warmer fabrics, like jersey and flannel, keep sleepers warm in the winter, while light cotton sheets keep us cool and calm in the summer..

Self-care is crucial in acquiring and maintaining the healthy mental state we seek. Time is the key, as investing free time in mediation, wellness practices, and catching mindful moments throughout the day can create a world of serenity. Personal assistants, grocery delivery services, and taking more time off from work can help clear up your schedule to return more time to you.

Charging $25 per month to manage five of your daily time-consuming tasks, personal assistants can help free up time spent on the mundane. Cloud-based personal helpers are equipped to excel in time management, ensuring that your to-dos get checked off on time by handling bill payments, notifications for scheduled calls, and scheduling due/routine appointments among other responsibilities. Grocery delivery services save time by curbing the effort put into the commute, isle surfing, list checking, and sustaining patience in long checkout lines. On average, these services cost $100 per year, excluding tips, making your only responsibility list building; and, previous lists can be resubmitted.

Opting for and inquiring about more time off is important in our hyper-productive society. A significant portion, 55% of Americans neglect their time off, failing to use all of their given time off. Many employees report increased difficulty with taking time off when working from home, as their assignments and perceived time to complete them increase. Definitively taking more of it is reinvigorating and reduces stress, making the time you do spend working upon return more productive and of higher quality.

In Conclusion

Catch your needed Z’s by taking more time for you and investing in higher quality bedding and sleep hygiene practices. Sweet dreams and learn more about the quality of sleep in the infographic below:

Source: PizunaLinens

April 14, 2022
Livability Rates Lexington, KY a Top 100 Place to Live

Lexington, KY may be known for bluegrass, bourbon, thoroughbreds and UK sports, but it is also in the top 100 best places to live.

Livability, in partnership with Ipsos, conducted a survey of 1,000 adults across the US to determine what makes up the most desirable traits in a community. The company then ranked over 1,000 cities, ranging from 20,000 to 1,000,000 inhabitants, using 50 different data points.

Lexington, KY came in at 57 on the list, driven by its dynamic nature and strong entrepreneurial ecosystem. Another major factor is Lexington’s central location, being within a day’s drive of two-thirds of the US population.

“This year’s list is a testament to loving where you live, in a time where more of us than ever can live anywhere we want,” says Cara Sanders, Livability.com managing editor. “These past two years have shown us how important it is that the places we live meet our needs and offer up affordability, opportunity and plenty of amenities. If we can work from anywhere, then these 100 cities are places you would want to live and make remote workers’ needs a top priority.”

October 22, 2021
The Pay Gap in Women’s Sports

The popularity of women’s sports viewership has grown in recent years. In 2020, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) broke viewership records by nearly 300%, reaching 653,000 views. Interest in women’s soccer was spurred by the 2019 World Cup win. The United State’s women’s teams have placed in the top three every World Cup since the tournament was established in 1991, sparking interest. The 2020 NWSL challenge cup drew viewership on par with a Major League Baseball game airing in the same time slot.

So, what has changed? Esmeralda Negron, the co-founder of Atlanta Media and former professional soccer player, said, “Premium broadcasting plays a massive role in elevating the visibility and profile of leagues and players at the club level.” Viewership was improved because the first and last games aired on CBS, rather than a subscription service. Also, the month-long tournament schedule started before the men’s league and before the NBA returned from lockdown.

Not only has viewership changed, but viewers want women’s sports. 84% of sports fans are interested in women’s sports, and 66% of people are interested in at least one women’s sport. The demographic of sports fans are 49% women and 51% men. The Olympic Channel found that 56% of engagement comes from women, and viewership of women’s content is 16% higher than that of men’s. Yet, only half of the sports governing bodies have a boardroom of at least 25% women.

The sports gender gap goes beyond viewership. In NCAA Division 1 schools, more than half of the students are women, yet only 44% of athletic opportunities are for women. Division 1 football schools only give women 29% of total athletic operating expenses, 28% of recruiting dollars, and 39% of athletic scholarship dollars. For every $1 spent on women’s sports, $2.50 are spent on men’s, and coaches for women earn $.063 for every $1 earned by coaches for men.

In addition, there are huge pay gaps for female athletes. On average, female athletes are earning 63% of their male counterparts. In basketball, the NBA pays its players up to 51% of the league’s revenue, but the WNBA only pays its players up to 23% of their league’s revenue. In addition, in 2020, Forbes’ 50 highest-paid athletes included just one woman, Naomi Osaka.

What does the future hold? While fewer people are interested in women’s sports than some men’s sports, there is still a large fanbase. The potential fanbase for women’s sports is in the millions; 38% of people who’d never watched a women’s sports even before say they “could be interested” in the future. Media coverage is key in improving viewership and interest. In 2020, women made up 40% of sportspeople but received just 4% of the sports media coverage. Lack of media coverage impacts sponsorships, creating missed opportunities.

Women’s sports represent a valuable sponsorship opportunity for brands, yet just .4% of sponsorship dollars go to women’s sports. 1 in 5 people is more influenced by sponsorships of women’s than of men’s. 3 in 4 people interested in women’s sports can name at least one brand involved, and 63% of people believe brands should invest in both women’s and men’s sports. It’s time to invest in women’s sports.

“The fact that it’s 2021 and the WNBA and NCAA women’s sports are treated like some sort of rec league specialty sport like the national corn hole league is is beyond disgusting, it’s time to stand up and bring true equality to sports.” Eric Mitchell – CEO, LifeFlip Media

May 27, 2021
Facebook’s First Director of Monetization Likens Company to Big Tobacco

Tim Kendall, Facebook’s first Director of Monetization, said the company had taken a page from Big Tobacco’s playbook.

The Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce of the Committee on Energy and Commerce is looking at the role of social media in “Mainstreaming Extremism: Social Media’s Role in Radicalizing America.” Kendall is testifying based on his role as Director of Monetization from 2006 through 2010, giving him a unique insight into the inner workings of the company.

The social media services that I and others have built over the past 15 years have served to tear people apart with alarming speed and intensity,” said Kendall. “At the very least, we have eroded our collective understanding—at worst, I fear we are pushing ourselves to the brink of a civil war.

He then goes on to highlight the methods Facebook used, essentially taking a page out of Big Tobacco’s playbook in an effort to make their product more addictive.

Tobacco companies initially just sought to make nicotine more potent. But eventually that wasn’t enough to grow the business as fast as they wanted. And so they added sugar and menthol to cigarettes so you could hold the smoke in your lungs for longer periods. At Facebook, we added status updates, photo tagging, and likes, which made status and reputation primary and laid the groundwork for a teenage mental health crisis.

Allowing for misinformation, conspiracy theories, and fake news to flourish were like Big Tobacco’s bronchodilators, which allowed the cigarette smoke to cover more surface area of the lungs. But that incendiary content alone wasn’t enough. To continue to grow the user base and in particular, the amount of time and attention users would surrender to Facebook, they needed more.

Tobacco companies added ammonia to cigarettes to increase the speed with which nicotine traveled to the brain. Extreme, incendiary content—think shocking images, graphic videos, and headlines that incite outrage—sowed tribalism and division. And this result has been unprecedented engagement — and profits.

Needless to say, Kendall’s testimony is likely to give weight to officials concerns about the role the platform has played in societal problems. Explaining Kendal’s testimony may become the biggest challenge for Facebook executives.

September 25, 2020
How The Pandemic Impacts The Job Market Of The Future

The pandemic has had a deleterious effect on the economy, our daily lives, our careers, and our schools. Parents are having to choose between working and taking care of their kids’ educational needs, while companies have had to make serious adjustments to keep business rolling. Everyone is basically in a holding pattern, but one of the ticking time bombs that has largely gone unnoticed is the high school and college aged students who are about to graduate into one of the most difficult job markets in history.

The Challenges Of College In A Pandemic

Many colleges shut down temporarily at the outset of the pandemic, but some tried to bring students back into unsafe conditions. Liberty University was one such institution, and it’s now facing lawsuits that allege the schools put students’ health and safety at risk as a pretext to continue to collect fees and tuition for fewer services.

Other colleges and universities have moved their courses online, which presents a whole other set of challenges. Students lack the in-person interactions they need to build a network and learn to work together on a team. It does have the benefit of preparing students for remote work, but there will be challenges in integrating these students into the workforce if steps aren’t taken to ensure they are getting at least a baseline college experience.

Undergraduate students often find that their classes and organizations help them build a network upon which they can build their careers later. Without such a network to leverage, career building is going to be a challenge.

What’s more, without those building blocks and that basic universal college experience, workplaces may struggle to integrate recent grads into new roles.

Careers, Workplaces, And The Economy

Right now we are living in what is arguably the worst economic downturn since The Great Depression. The United States has officially been in a recession since June, and it’s not showing any signs of turning around.

Students who are graduating into this environment are going to have a difficult time finding work, which is ultimately going to slow the economic recovery even more. As older generations begin to retire in a few years there will be fewer low to intermediate level job candidates to move up the ladder and push middle level candidates into those vacant leadership positions.

In short, this pandemic and the subsequent economic downturn are going to be playing out in our economy for decades to come.

Supporting Students To Turn The Economy Around

It’s difficult to imagine hiring right now, but that will be crucial to ensuring today’s students are able to become tomorrow’s business leaders. Now is the time for education and training, and most importantly for supporting graduates who stuck it out and made the most of a bad situation, as they are the ones who faced a pandemic with an antifragile mindset.

It’s going to take time and effort to recover fully from this economic crisis, but the time to start taking action is now. Learn more about the challenges of college during coronavirus and how to support students from the infographic below.

July 21, 2020
Study: 36 Intelligent Civilizations In Our Galaxy

“Using modern data the scientists behind a new paper proposed that there should be around 36 different CETI’s (Communicating Extra-terrestrial Intelligent Civilizations) in the Milky Way Galaxy,” says popular science YouTube star Anton Petrov. “For this particular study, they took what we know about planet Earth to try and discover similar other locations somewhere in the galaxy where obviously similar conditions could lead to other life as we have on earth.”

Anton Petrov, host of the YouTube channel “What Da Math” with over 526,000 subscribers, discusses a new scientific paper that finds there are likely at least 36 intelligent earth-like civilizations in our galaxy:

New Solution To the Fermi Paradox

A new paper finds another solution to the Fermi paradox by proposing the reworking of the so-called Drake equation. This is the famous equation that tries to calculate how many potential extra-terrestrial intelligent civilizations there should be in our vicinity. Most of the time the results (of studies like this) suggest that there should be actual civilizations around us or at least somewhere in the galaxy.

But every once in a while we do have to rework the equation simply because we collect more data in regards to various exoplanets out there. As of 2020, we’ve discovered over 4,000 different exoplanets and we now have a pretty good picture of how many different types of planets there are and also what kinds of stars usually have these terrestrial planets and how many of these stars do often have terrestrial planets in the habitable zone.

Study Finds 36 Intelligent Civilizations In Our Galaxy

Using the modern data the scientists behind this paper proposed that there should be around 36 different CETI’s (Communicating Extra-terrestrial Intelligent Civilizations) in the Milky Way Galaxy. A lot of their ideas are based on the modern understanding of the galactic formation and the formation of stars in different galaxies. Most importantly, it involves the idea of metalicity. Metalicity in astronomy refers to pretty much everything except for hydrogen and helium. Hydrogen and helium are non-metals where everything else is considered to be metals.

We know that planetary formation depends on metallicity. The more metallic the star is the more likely it is going to have terrestrial planets and even other planets orbiting around it. Stars that are low in metallicity will either have gas giants or might not even have planets at all. When it comes to metallicity in galaxies we even have this term known as the galactic habitable zone. Essentially, in a typical galaxy we think that the inner part of the galaxy is not really habitable. First of all it has low metallicity and secondly it is usually very active and has a lot of different flares going on, usually from the black hole itself.

Scientists Seek To Discover Earth Replicas

Most of the stars on the outskirts are the only areas where we could possibly find terrestrial planets capable of supporting life. So in order for us to find life somewhere, we need to be looking at areas of high metallicity and away from the black hole. All of this comes into consideration when trying to work out this new 2020 edition of the Drake Equation.

For this particular study, they took what we know about planet Earth to try and discover similar other locations somewhere in the galaxy where obviously similar conditions could lead to other life as we have on earth. They are looking at stars that are four to five billion years old and that are in habitable zones and have metallicity that is similar to the ones in our own solar system. Basically, what the scientists behind this paper are trying to discover are the replicas of the solar system in our own galaxy.

Potentially 200 Intelligent Civilizations In Milky Way

The scientist behind this paper make a very important assumption that it is very likely that many civilizations do go extinct. Before they go extinct they make an assumption that every civilization will have at least 100 years of communication using very similar devices to what we have here. Basically, electromagnetic communication using radio waves to communicate to the rest of the world and of course the rest of the galaxy.

They make the assumption that somewhere out there there are similar species to humans that are trying to reach out and are trying to search for extraterrestrial intelligence living on planets very similar to planet Earth around stars similar to our own Sun. One of their more strict assumptions is that their planet has to be about 4.5 to 5.5 billion years old and they’re also in a very similar stage of advancement and in a very similar stage of their intelligence to humans.

If you take all of these numbers into consideration we actually come up with a number that is about 36. The lowest number (per the study) of intelligent civilizations is 4 and the highest number is over 200. If all of them are equally distributed across the galaxy this means that the nearest such civilization to us is going to be at a distance of about 17,000 light-years away. The closest distance potentially being 7,000 light-years.

Study Finds 36 Intelligent Civilization In Our Galaxy – Anton Petrov

June 23, 2020
Layoffs And Furloughs: What You Need To Know

The jobs numbers keep coming in and it’s far more dire than anyone has yet predicted. An additional 2.5 million jobless claims were filed in May alone, bringing the unemployment rate to more than 18%. In some places it is higher, and those numbers continue to climb every day. The pandemic has taken a toll on workers and businesses alike, shuttering businesses that aren’t essential or safe enough for people to use until the pandemic has passed. Bars and restaurants have been hit especially hard, and many of those businesses will not be able to make a comeback. Unemployment is tricky to navigate for the majority of people who have never needed to do so before, and supporting furloughed and laid off workers is going to continue to be crucial until the economy fully recovers.

Layoffs and furloughs are a little different and require different resources to address. Layoffs are permanent separations from a company with the possibility of being recalled to work. Along with this method of separation, workers also lose any benefits such as health insurance, which means they will need access to COBRA in order to retain their healthcare, of particular importance in a pandemic.

Furloughs are a little different from layoffs. Furloughed employees retain many of their benefits, such as health insurance, during the time they are not reporting for work. They also have the expectation of being called back to work after a given period of time, so their period of joblessness is finite though still unpaid.

There are also other categories of workers who have lost their jobs or some of their income who may qualify for unemployment benefits in their states. Substitute teachers, freelance workers, and others who lack traditional employment structures don’t typically qualify for unemployment benefits, but new rules have allowed them to take advantage of a system they have long been prevented from using. Part time workers and those who had their hours cut have also previously been denied coverage but now also qualify for unemployment benefits in many states.

Most notably, people who had no choice but to quit reporting to work in order to care for children or at-risk adult family members also now qualify for unemployment benefits.

Navigating the unemployment system can be daunting. If you live in one state and work in another, file in the state in which you work. In most places you can file online if you have internet access, but of course if you don’t have internet access or an internet-capable device your options have become severely limited as libraries and coffee shops that typically offer free access have closed down.

Because of the pandemic most states have waived the waiting period to apply for benefits, and the Federal Government is kicking in an additional $600 a month until the end of July.

If you’ve never been unemployed before, it’s nothing to be ashamed about. You will recover from this. Learn more about how to navigate unemployment from the infographic below.

June 12, 2020
How Is Data Fight The Spread Of COVID-19?

Is data the key to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic? As the old saying goes, to be forewarned is to be forearmed, and knowledge gives us the power to fight back. As this pandemic has been caused by a novel coronavirus that no one has immunity to or has seen before, getting as much information as possible distributed as quickly as possible is key to stopping the spread and ending the pandemic.

Statistical modeling has shown us that our best defense against the pandemic currently is social distancing. With information from the Spanish Flu pandemic a hundred years ago and the real-time information we are gathering from outbreak hotspots, we know that keeping people away from each other is the single most important thing we can do right now to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Cities that implemented social distancing earlier in their outbreaks showed significantly fewer cases per 100,000 residents as the disease progressed, and until there is a vaccine or a cure this is the best measure we can take to save lives.

Unfortunately there are places where people have a difficult time socially distancing themselves from one another, and nursing homes are one of those places. Residents of nursing homes are also at higher risk of complications and death from COVID-19, so preventing the spread in these populations has proven to be a crucial and monumental task.

Temperature checks of both residents and staff have been at the forefront of prevention measures along with closing down facilities to all but necessary staff. But once someone shows a temperature spike it may be too late. We know that people can carry COVID-19 for weeks without symptoms, spreading the illness to others without even knowing they are sick.

Across the world, various healthcare organizations and governments are working together to share and track data about COVID-19 in order to find new information about this virtually unknown disease.

The WHO has partnered with tech giants Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter in order to find new data and ways of analyzing it. Even detecting the disease a few days earlier could significantly halt the spread because of the extremely virulent nature of the virus.

Tracking vital signs is the best we can do to protect the most vulnerable on top of the already strict social distancing rules, especially in nursing homes. But one company may have found a breakthrough in their data on nursing home dashboards.

Measuring a person’s pulse oxygen twice a day with a pulse oximeter has been shown to show decreases in oxygen levels that could be attributed to COVID-19, and these readings start to appear up to two weeks before a patient would first spike a fever. This method of early detection could help prevent the spread in close quarters high-risk facilities like nursing homes and could also have broader implications in the general population once the economy starts to reopen.

When it comes to halting the spread of COVID-19, the sooner we can find new and reliable information, the better we can fight the spread. Learn more about how data is being used to fight the spread of COVID-19 from the infographic below.

May 7, 2020
Can An App Prevent Amputations During The Pandemic?

What does the pandemic have to do with amputations? Wound care is one of the things that is being put on the back burner in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19. Unfortunately, for many people with chronic conditions such as diabetes, people who have had recent surgeries, and people with circulation issues, wounds need specialized care to ensure they don’t worsen. Even more unfortunate is the fact that many of the people with these kinds of conditions are the same ones who are in nursing homes, long term care facilities, and post-acute care facilities. Can a breakthrough in telehealth wound care help prevent complications in vulnerable populations?

Why Is Wound Care Important?

Complications from wounds that aren’t healing can include infections, amputations, and even death.

People who are most at risk are already avoiding unnecessary trips to the doctor or to the emergency room. In many cases, facilities that deal with wound care have been shut down to stop the spread of COVID-19, and healthcare providers who treat these conditions are being barred from entering facilities where patients are living to protect the most vulnerable.

Wound care is a highly specialized field, and while some wounds can be treated at home, specialized wound care is highly necessary for more complicated cases.

While protecting people from COVID-19 is clearly the top priority, getting them access to specialized wound care is also very important during this difficult time.

How Telehealth Works For Wound Care

Ordinary telehealth measures aren’t optimal for wound care. Smartphone cameras aren’t set up to give medical providers an accurate image of what a wound looks like. Medical providers need to know the color, width, and depth of a wound to gauge whether it is healing properly.

New advances in telehealth wound care do just that. AI can help give a more accurate representation of the color of a wound, crucial in the attempt of knowing whether it is healing or not.

That same technology can give a clearer image of the depth of a wound and the width of a wound, which are also important indicators of healing.

What’s more, telehealth wound care makes all the prior knowledge about a given patient’s wound able to be accessed by any medical provider in a practice, so even if a patient doesn’t see the same medical provider every time the accurate information is still there.

Will Telehealth Wound Care Continue After The Pandemic?

Telehealth has been touted as a way to get medical providers into rural and remote communities where doctors aren’t able to sustain a regular practice. But for some conditions, traveling to a larger city to see a doctor remains the best option.

Because of the advances in telehealth wound care, this technology has the potential to bring better wound care to rural and remote communities, especially to those who lack the means of traveling to a larger city for medical care.
Learn more about advances in the technology behind better, more accurate telehealth wound care below.

April 30, 2020
Social Distancing Without Isolation

Until we have a vaccine or a cure for COVID-19, chances are we are all going to be spending a lot of time at home for the foreseeable future. Social distancing is difficult, mainly because no one really agrees on what it actually means. As it turns out, inviting a bunch of friends over for drinks and trying to stay six feet apart doesn’t actually count. But that doesn’t mean you have to socially isolate yourself to stay safe and healthy. There’s a fine line between social distancing and social isolation, and it’s more important than ever to strike that balance for the good of your mental health.

Why Social Distancing?

Because there’s no known cure or vaccine for COVID-19 yet, our best defense is a good offense. Carriers can be infected and spread the virus for up to two weeks before they ever show symptoms. Because of this, staying at home even if you feel healthy is the best way to slow the spread.

Social distancing means staying home as much as possible and only leaving for necessities, like working if you can’t do your job from home, medical emergencies, and groceries once a week or less. When you do have to leave your home, social distancing measures mean that you should stay at least six feet apart from other people and wear a mask.

Preventing Isolation

Some things that are still considered social distancing are actually good for preventing feelings of isolation. Going for a walk or walking your dog in your neighborhood – or even another neighborhood if you need a change of scenery – is a great way to get exercise and help yourself feel better.

Calling people on a regular basis is a great way to stay connected. Right now you will need to nurture your relationships with friends, family, and colleagues so that you have the foundation to start rebuilding your life after all this is over and done.

Set a routine. Get up and go to bed at the same time every day. Eat regular meals. Set aside time for working and do it in a separate space to keep your mind compartmentalized. Make part of your routine exercising either before or after work every day and set a daily time to call people on the telephone – texting just doesn’t cut it.

You can still have a Zoom meet up with your friends, go for a hike in a natural area, and more to prevent feelings of isolation from setting in, and it’s more important than ever to be vigilant about your mental health.

Loneliness Doesn’t Have To Be Part Of The Epidemic

While there was a longstanding epidemic of loneliness before the pandemic began, it doesn’t have to be exacerbated by our need for social distancing. Around half of American adults reported feeling lonely before the pandemic, and that figure has skyrocketed as people struggle to find the appropriate balance in their lives. Learn more about social distancing and preventing feelings of isolation during COVID-19 from the infographic below.

This post originally appeared on Kivo Daily

April 29, 2020
The Science Behind Face Masks

Seeing people wear a mask in stores, on the street, public transportation, and more is becoming more prominent than ever. Originally, the WHO and the CDC both repeatedly were against many wearing face masks, but on April 3, 2020, the CDC reversed its decision and announced that healthy people should wear masks to help slow the spread and reduce risk of exposure.

In China, an estimated amount of more than 80% of infections with COVID-19 went undocumented and unnoticed. These undocumented cases, while none of the transmitters showed symptoms, still spread COVID-19 everywhere they went. These undocumented cases accounted for over 75% of total transmissions in China.

How Masks Slow the Spread of COVID-19

Masks are utilized to slow the spread of COVID-19 because they can trap contagious particles from an infected individual from spreading. In lab testing, it was found that wearing a face mask could prevent particles from getting through – confirming that a mask can protect others from the wearer.

The reason this works is that a large number of transmissions are passed through asymptomatic carriers. These masks, according to one study, combined with frequently using hand sanitizer, can reduce flu transmissions by up to 50% or more. COVID-19, being estimated at nearly 3 times more contagious, even a small decrease in infection rates could mean a huge difference. Since the creation of the N95 respirator, which proved to be very good at stopping the spread of tuberculosis and other viruses, very little research has been done on cloth masks.

Masks Are Not Worn For Social Reason In the U.S.

Wearing a mask, while becoming more common is still not worn by many for social reasons. “We need to change our perception that masks are only for sick people and that it’s weird or shameful to wear one… If more people donned masks it would become a social norm as well as a public health good” says Robert Hecht, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology in the Yale School of Medicine.

In countries where wearing a face mask is common, like China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, experts noticed that the oncoming spread of COVID-19 was much more controlled because face masks in those countries are more than recommended, they are culturally expected. In the U.S., people of color are afraid of wearing a face mask in public for fear of being mistaken as a robber. On March 18, 2020, a police officer kicked 2 black men out of a Walmart for wearing face coverings.

90% of U.S. Cities Report a Shortage of Face Masks

Nearly 90% of U.S. cities are reporting a shortage of face masks that are needed to protect emergency responders and healthcare workers. Making a face mask at home is a good way to not cut into that already dwindling supply. A study looking at the effectiveness of homemade masks showed that masks made with higher thread count fabrics, finer mesh gauze, and more layers were more effective at filtering particles in the air.

Taking on and off your mask safely is also important. Use hand sanitizer before putting your mask on and after you take it off and while wearing it, avoid touching it or adjusting it.

Learn more about how face masks might be helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19 here.

This article originally appeared on Kivo Daily

April 24, 2020
The Social Impact Of Mixing Business And Medicine
With healthcare costs soaring and Coronavirus running rampant, some are wondering what’s going to be. In the U.S. healthcare spending is over 18% of Gross Domestic Product as compared to the 8.8% of GDP spent in countries that are members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development.

From 2007 to 2014 Americans with health insurance saw their health spending increase by 20% on average. The skyrocketing prices of prescriptions may have a part to play. From 2009 to 2016 the cost of EpiPens rose from $100 to $600, and from 2012 to 2016 the rise of insulin prices increased diabetics’ spending by $2,841 every year.

The problem is that health insurance is big business, in 2019 the 5 largest health insurance and pharmacy benefit providers in the U.S. made more than the 5 largest tech companies.
- UnitedHealth Group
- CVSHealth
- Cigna
- Anthem
- Humana
- $787 Billion
- Facebook
- Amazon
- Apple
- Netflix
- Google
- $783 Billion
1 in 3 Americans says they or a family member delayed seeking treatment due to healthcare costs. Many low-income families have to choose between paying for groceries, heat, or electricity and medical costs. And things may be getting harder, it is predicted that by 2027 healthcare spending will reach $6 Trillion a year.

Americans are 2-3 times more likely than Canadians to ignore medical advice due to cost. The unfortunate result is avoidable death. With the younger generations being most affected, over half of Millennials and Gen x delayed or avoided care due to cost. Every year delaying or avoiding care leads to 125,000 avoidable deaths and makes up 10% more hospitalizations.

Those who do seek medical care don’t always follow through, 30% out of patients in Texas, who had a claim denied, paid for care out of pocket, another 14% appealed and received benefits, leaving over half not pursuing medical care.

What’s more, 67% of medication non-adherence is linked to the high cost of healthcare, with 20-30% of prescriptions never filled. Many simply can’t afford the high costs of medication, but it’s costing a lot more in the long run. For patients with chronic diseases especially, abstaining from treatment can cost anywhere from $949 to $44,190, due to worsening symptoms, complications, and hospital re-admittance.

Every year, more than 26,000 Americans die due to a lack of health insurance, with those uninsured being 25-80% more at risk for death. Of the uninsured, more than 8 in 10 are low-income families, and more than 7 in 10 have at least one full

Time worker in their family. Minorities make up 43% of the population, but over 50% of those uninsured.
- 22% of the uninsured are Native Americans
- 19% of the uninsured are Hispanic Americans
- 11% of the uninsured are African Americans
Since 2016, the total of uninsured has gone up by 1.2 million

On March 20, 2020, a 17-year-old with symptoms of COVID-19 went to an urgent care facility in California to seek treatment. Due to a lack of insurance, he was denied care and sent to a local hospital instead. He went into cardiac arrest before reaching the hospital and died 6 hours later.

These are the lamentable social impacts of mixing business with medicine. Those who need care may be turned away, those who cannot afford care are left untreated, and those who are untreated may perish.

Learn more about mixing business and medicine here.

This story originally appeared on Kivo Daily
April 22, 2020
The Stress Of Undertaking Distance Learning Under Covid-19
Our lives are changing rapidly these days. The pandemic is threatening our mental health, businesses and jobs, and education. Fortunately, there is a technology that can help mitigate some of the strain.

Covid-19 in Brief

For those still in disbelief as to the seriousness of the situation:
- Coronavirus, even in mild cases, causes potentially permanent tissue damage to the lungs.
- With the protective lining of the lungs damaged, people become susceptible to bacterial infections that normally wouldn’t pose a threat.
- Since the immune system is exhausted from fighting the virus, it has little ability to deal with a bacterial infection, resulting in death without extreme medical intervention.
- This is compounded by the alarming rate of the spread of Coronavirus.
- An overabundance of cases will put a strain on the healthcare system, which cannot handle such a large volume of patients, leading to untreated deaths.
With no vaccine available for the foreseeable future, the only way to reduce casualties is to slow the spread of the virus. Inhibiting the spread will stagger the number of people infected at the same time, thus giving the healthcare providers a better chance to treat everyone.

To this goal, many have instituted stricter distancing procedures, such as closing public spaces, limiting gatherings, and closing schools. Few have not felt the effects of the pandemic, with virtually everyone’s life turned upside-down highlighted among them are the children.

Outside the Classroom

School closures were one of the first attempts at slowing the spread of Covid-19. As of mid-March, 862 million children were affected. Educators scrambled to adapt to eLearning, but unfortunately, many institutions simply don’t have the infrastructure to support fully off-site learning.

While many are taken off balance, some teachers are addressing this by making use of established online platforms for lectures over mediums like Adobe Connect, BlackBoard, AnyMeeting, GoToMeeting, and MeetingBurner.

There is another glaring hurdle for educators to overcome. Close to 18% of children don’t have access to an internet connection at home, with 44% of low-income households not even owning a computer. In response to this crisis, Comp-U-Dopt, a charity in Housten, TX, provided low-income students with laptops. Internet providers like Spectrum and Comcast have also stepped up to provide free internet for such students.

Overlooked Losses

Unfortunately, access to education isn’t the only thing being impaired by the Coronavirus. 30 million children rely on free or reduced-cost lunches provided in schools. That notwithstanding about 13 million kids deal with hunger in the U.S. adding up to a lot of vulnerable children. Thankfully this is not going unnoticed, a NY business went charity, Soulful Synergy has been working to provide thousands of meals a day to families in need, and the USDA also allowing some schools to continue providing meals for pick up.

A Blessing in Disguise

There are many benefits to eLearning, with Coronavirus forcing educators to upgrade, perhaps there can be previously unattainable gains? Pandemics aside, 98% of teachers think the use of interactive video will be essential in the future because it enhances content consumption and increases retention rates. Interactive video is engaging and easily distributes content, like demos, explainers, and interviews.

93% of teachers view predictive analytics as changing education, allowing the development of personalized learning and efficiency to support the diverse needs of all learners. With AI use in education expected to grow by 48% by 2022, educators can streamline the customization of learning pathways.

Not every educational institution was convinced of the benefits of eLearning, but now those that wouldn’t have, are gearing for distance learning. And with so many focused on online learning, the potentials for innovation and integration are promising. Hopefully, we can see the glass as half full during these difficult times.

Learn more about what can be done with Distance Learning here!

This story originally appeared on Kivo Daily
March 30, 2020
The Future Of Schools With Tech

With today’s constantly growing tech advances, there are a plethora of amazing applications across many different forums and disciplines. Amid socially connecting people across the globe and lucrative business innovations, it comes as no surprise that there are some new and exciting advances available in the classroom. Educators are looking ahead far into the future to greatly enhance the learning experience of their students.

More than 9 out of 10 educators are interested in, and/or anticipate using technology in their classroom. More specifically, they are using interactive videos, and self-paced curriculum aided by artificial intelligence. Many see these new applications as a way to not only reach more students but as essential to their future success. Increased use of video as a medium is believed by most educational institutions to foster collaboration amongst educators, promote professional development, and most importantly increase student achievement and satisfaction. The most prevalent uses of video focus on enhancing the learning experience for students and freeing more time for teachers to allocate towards other important tasks.

One such enhancement is a new approach to education in the classroom, or more aptly put, outside of the classroom. Flipped instruction is exactly what it sounds like, things traditionally done within and without the classroom are opposite. Historically the teacher reviews homework and then presents new content, which the student then practices at home. In a flipped instruction model, students learn new material before coming into the classroom via video and other technology to teach the teacher, and then in-class time is utilized for the exploration of applications.

This is markedly more student-oriented in comparison to traditional education, which increases student engagement. Another benefit is that students can work more collaboratively, increasing essential soft skills that enable students to effectively interact with the members of their community, future place of employment, and the world at large. One of the potential drawbacks is that in congruence with a collaborative classroom is the potential for a busier and noisier workspace. This makes concentration for some students difficult, let alone acclimating to the entirely foreign learning experience. In addition, flipped instruction must be executed well in order to capitalize on any of the potential benefits. The fact that 18% of school-age children in the U.S. do not have access to the internet at home poses another potential barrier that while glaring, has more remedies than one might think.

Chatbots are an additional advancement in the arsenal of technologically minded educators. Their value as a resource to students and teachers alike has become evident. Chatbots can help with the repeated review, regularly reminding students of previously learned content before they forget using algorithms to predict the point deterioration of short-term memory. They can give students immediate feedback, which helps students greatly improve compared to those who have a delay in feedback. Chatbots can adjust the curriculum to the student’s pace, and even grade papers with a 92% accuracy, removing a huge burden off the educator’s load of work.

There are three notable applications of chatbots that should be brought to your attention. Snatchbot is a chatbot that is free to be embedded into pre-existing platforms such as Blackboard to answer FACs, help with online course navigation, and give immediate answers. The second is the Summit Learning Project, which has developed chatbots that can adapt learning to each student, finding students’ trouble spots and adjusting accordingly, allowing teachers to focus on lesson planning. Finally, Jill Watson is a chatbot built on IBM’s Watson which uses data from the course’s forum to answer students’ technical questions about the learning platform. With the help of these and more tech in the classroom, students and educators have a bright future in an ever-advancing world.

Learn more about reimagining schools with technology here!

This post originally appeared on Kivo Daily

March 23, 2020
How Mobile Internet Use Drives Apple’s Success

For the majority of people connecting to the internet these days, doing so on the go is their preferred method. That’s why devices like smartphones, tablets, laptops and notebook computers, and smartwatches have become part of our daily lives. The notion of going somewhere and not being able to communicate with our colleagues or loved ones for even a tiny amount of time is completely foreign to us these days. Because of the ease of being connected, companies like Apple have built their success around supplying us with everything we need to get online and stay online.

Apple sells 41% of the smartphones in the United States as well as 38% of the tablets and 46% of the smartwatches, dominating the U.S. tech market. Those devices help us to keep track of our heart rates, call our loved ones, check in on social media, take pictures at the school play, and more, making them an integral part of our daily lives.

Apple makes plenty of money off being part of our daily lives. In 2018, Apple became the first publicly traded U.S. company to cross the $1 trillion threshold. Every year, Apple sells $167 billion in iPhones, $25 billion in Mac computers, $19 billion in iPads, and $37 billion in the services that augment the equipment it sells, from iCloud to Apple Pay. Apple’s yearly net sales are $266 billion, and after $164 billion in operating expenses that leaves $102 billion a year in profit.

Apple’s popularity has only grown over the years. In 2002 when Apple released the first redesigned iMac, it sold 3 million computers. By 2018 that figure had grown to 18 million units.

In 2007, 1 million iPhones were sold when they were first released, and by 2018 that number had grown to 218 million units sold.

The iPad was released in 2010, and 7 million units were sold that year. By 2018 iPad had sold 44 million units.

In 2015 when the Apple Watch was released, an astounding 12 million units were sold. By 2018 that number had nearly doubled to 23 million units.

Part of the reason these products are so popular is that they all connect to each other seamlessly, so if you have an iPhone you can connect to your iPad or your MacBook without having to be terribly tech-savvy. This makes the user experience with these products significantly better than a patchwork of different technologies.
One thing is for sure and that is we like to be connected to each other. Companies that can figure out how to keep us connected are likely to continue to dominate the U.S. tech market. Apple’s philosophies of quality over quantity, a design aesthetic that is carried through the entire device, and innovation have made it a leader in the tech marketplace. And once you enter the Apple ecosystem you are likely to remain there indefinitely thanks to its ease of use. Learn more about how Apple makes its money from the infographic below.

March 17, 2020
Cybersecurity Issues In Online Dating

Online dating is a sign of the times. We live busier lives than ever, so of course we need to make our dating as efficient as possible. Unfortunately, cybercriminals understand all too well how to exploit this system, which can lead to costly and disastrous results for a small fraction of people who use online dating websites and apps. Cybercrime is expensive, but cyber romance scams cost an average of 7x those of traditional scams.

Dating apps and websites are a sign of the technological times, and they make targeting users even easier than romance scams of yesteryear, which often required face-to-face interaction. But the demographics of dating sites and apps may surprise you. In the U.S. alone, nearly 35 million Americans have tried online dating, and in the past decade or so, the number of users shot up by almost 50%. An unexpectedly high number of older Americans also use dating sites and apps; over 1 in 10 daters are over the age of 55, but for the most part, most users are under 30. Regardless of age, however, is the fact that they can all be targeted by scammers and lose huge amounts of their financial stability to someone trying to make a quick buck off of a lonely person.

Online dating is a vulnerable activity, and it leaves people open to costly fraud. A Japanese woman in 2016 sent her online boyfriend, whom she thought was a U.S. Army captain stationed in Syria, over $200,000, leaving her in dire financial straits. Over the course of a year she discovered not only that her boyfriend didn’t even exist, but also that he was instead a ring of 14 cyber scammers operating out of Los Angeles and Nigeria. The average reported loss from a romance scam is $2,600, seven times more than the cost of other types of online scams. For people over the age of 70, that figure skyrockets to $10,000 per scam. In another such scam, one woman lost more than $1 million to such a scam after liquidating her retirement, investments, and some of her parents’ savings.

Scammers create fake profiles on dating sites and apps in order to perpetrate these crimes. The profiles may seem like the perfect match for a large number of people, drawing in sometimes multiple victims at once. They strike up a relationship with their targets through frequent contact. Once enough trust is built, the scammers make up a sob story and ask for money, such as consequences of overwhelming medical debt, personal debts that may be causing trouble, or even sometimes travel expenses to visit their online mate. Once such scammer was caught in 2017 after defrauding $1.7 million from more than 30 victims. One way he got them to give him money was that he would have the victim apply for a credit card, ask them to get a cash advance, then ask them to wire the money to an account in South Africa. This all just goes to show that scammers think ahead and think about how to worm their way into your heart.

In the case of such credit card scams, this can end up being a problem for the issuing bank if they didn’t take the necessary steps to prevent fraud or for the wire transfer service if they allowed a fraudulent wire transfer. In short, online dating scams are not just a personal problem for the victim – they can impact all of us. Find out how to spot potential scammers and prevent online dating fraud from this infographic from Our Dating Journey.

January 6, 2020
Vocational Training: The New Success Track?

Success is an important reward for our hard work, and many people feel that it is part of their identities as a person. But recent generations are having to redefine what it means to be successful, and even what it means to be an adult. The economy and the job market are changing and with it our definition of growing and building a successful career and life.

Gen Z is starting to define themselves by their achievements in school and their work, as compared to most adults who say it is their family and upbringing that defines who they are. Today’s young adults also don’t think that growing up is just about how old they have become, or about getting married, having children, or owning a home as-is thought traditionally. Young adults today are saying that adulthood is marked by financial independence from those who raised them, full-time employment, and some are simply saying moving out of their parents’ home and being able to maintain living on their own makes them an adult.

Success is another thing that is being redefined by the younger generations. Gen Zers say that by the age of 30, they want to finish all of their education, start a career, gain financial independence, and to follow their dreams. But 58% of young adults can’t afford the lifestyle they are used to without parental support or some other external help.

Many are looking at the education and student loan debt trap and reconsidering things. 41% of young Americans would choose a trade school over college because learning a specific trade leads to a better chance at career opportunities and higher earning potential among other reasons. Compared to a Bachelor’s degree, trade school can be better in many ways. The average annual salary for trade school graduates is $65,000 a year and trade school graduates experience a lower unemployment rate than college graduates. While lifetime earnings for those with college degrees are still higher, those gains are often offset by crippling student loan debt.

Jobs that you can get from trade school have higher job security and trade school graduates have less than half of the unemployment that regular college graduates experience. This is caused by the fact that the cost of trade school is significantly less and even after paying off nearly 3 times the debt, most college grads are still making the same as their trade school counterparts.

Trade school graduates are also getting jobs after school more quickly as Baby Boomers are retiring and leaving job openings that need filling. 80% of contractors are struggling to find skilled enough workers to do the jobs that Baby Boomers used to fill such as plumbing, roofing, HVAC, electrical, and many more. 60% of metal workers say labor shortages are their biggest concern. Other manufacturing shortages include CNC operators, industrial maintenance techs, and most general skilled workers. And 30% of hospitals are having trouble finding suitable workers for important jobs such as lab techs, LPNs, CNAs, and more.

Find out how today’s young adults are becoming tomorrow’s successful and how they are changing how we think about the path to success here.

November 22, 2019
Can Employers Help Combat The Opioid Epidemic?

There’s a serious opioid epidemic happening right now in every city, state, and county in America, and some are worse than others. The history of how we got to this point comes from a multitude of factors including but not limited to deregulation of prescription advertising, pharmaceutical companies convincing healthcare providers these medications were safe and that the risk for addiction was negligible, and many more. Unfortunately little is currently being done to combat the epidemic and more efforts are needed. Doctors are prescribing about 20% fewer opioid medications, but what if there were a way for companies to help stem the tide of addiction with workplace policies?

Drug testing policies are always important to have in place to ensure any illegal drug use is dealt with properly. While prescription misuse in the workplace is becoming a serious problem, this may not show up on regular drug screening panels. When an employee has a legitimate prescription for an opioid medication it legally can’t be listed in the drug screen results because of medical privacy rights.

This is why it is so important to have a workplace drug policy that is more comprehensive than just banning the use of illegal drugs. Oftentimes people become addicted to opioid pain medications after a legitimate use scenario — they have an injury or a surgery and they are prescribed pain medication to help keep their pain at bay during their recovery, but then they find their need for that pain medication continues long after the recovery period. When the prescription runs out they may turn to the street or the internet to purchase more of the pain medication, and when that fails some may even turn to heroin.

Many of the people who find themselves in this situation want to get help, but they are scared if they come forward they might lose their jobs, regardless of protections like FMLA which don’t cover all employees. Having a policy in place that encourages people to seek help when it is needed is crucial — guarantee they will have a job to return to and that their health insurance will continue while they are in rehab. But that’s not the end. Having a policy in place that will provide support and mentoring upon return can literally be the difference between life and death. It can be easier for employees to get support if there is a way for them to compare health insurance quotes without phone calls, as many people find it difficult to talk about their health needs over the phone.

Substance abusers miss more work than the average employee, and opioid pain medication abusers miss as much as three times the work of the average employee. A quarter of workplaces are extremely unprepared to deal with opioids in the workplace, while nearly a third have already dealt with an overdose, arrest, or injury. Educating HR and management professionals on workplace drug policies as well as how to respond both to suspected drug use and requests for help obtaining rehabilitation is crucial to maintaining workplace safety.

An overwhelming majority of people believe that addiction should be treated as a medical condition, and workplace policies should reflect that if they are to work properly. Learn more about how employers can help combat the opioid epidemic from the infographic below.

June 28, 2019
The Power of Gratitude and Your Network at SXSW

A lot of people don’t come to SXSW anymore because they are afraid it isn’t cool.

That, however, couldn’t be further from the truth.

SXSW is a week that I look forward to every year to deepen partnerships and relationships from around the world, meet new friends, and interconnect people in ways they haven’t thought possible before.

How? Gratitude. Helping people in ways they don’t see as they are trapped in their 4 walls.

This was the genesis for the Next Action Podcast for me.

But how would I put it into practice this year? Try to help as many people as I could with no expectations in return.

Here are a few examples in action:

HOW I MET QUINTIN COLEMAN

Many sales and business development people might instinctively try to find the most powerful or valuable person in the room. I don’t believe this is healthy; after all, every person is a universe, and thanks to tools like LinkedIn, people are so interconnected and can help you in ways you’ll never see coming.

While I was at the LinkedIn Lounge, I came across a beautiful set with great lighting and a number of people were taking pictures there. Quintin was ahead of me in line and just looked so excited to be there, you couldn’t help but speak with him. We even got on the stage and took some photos together.

After our impromptu photo shoot, I sat down with him and we were talking about his LinkedIn profile. What many people would have charged for consulting advice, I was happy to give away for free.

And, as the internet says…you won’t believe what happened next.

(photo credit @shayna_pdx of @outer_elements)

Shayna Goldstein, An official SXSW photographer saw what we were up to and captured the moment in this epic shot!

Even better, she had a chance to check out more about what I do running NowSourcing, and brought her partner Aaron Rogosin for a full photo shoot of our trade show presence!

(photo credit @aaronrogosin of @outer_elements)

UNITING YOUR TRIBE

People that have never attended SXSW may not realize that nearly 300,000 people flock to Austin for the event, so it’s extremely difficult to coordinate meetings without careful planning. It makes more sense to have a few anchor events and have your tribe come to you vs trying to message people on Facebook only to connect once all of SXSW is over.

Here were a few such spots in my travels:

THE MUCKRACK PARTY

MuckRack Party (photo credit: Jordan French) L-R Jordan French, Tina Mulqueen, Brian Wallace, Adryenn Ashley, Gavin Gillas, Jeffrey Powers

The MuckRack party provided a great place to meet up with several journalist friends and meet new ones. Also gave a chance for yours truly and Grit Daily owner Jordan French a chance to finally meet in person!

#LINKEDINLOCAL SXSW

(Photo credit: Brian Wallace)

Building off last year’s inaugural event, Miranda Rose Lozano, Katie Wallace, and I brought getting to know the people behind their LinkedIn profiles it back for a 2nd season at an intimate setting downtown. Great getting to see friends old and new.

PARTIES AND PANELS BREAKFAST

(Photo credit: Brian Wallace)

The second annual Parties and Panels Breakfast was an event for the early birds of SXSW – and a uniting of the SXSW Interactive Networking and SXSW Panel Planning FB Groups – IRL. special thanks to Angelique LaRue for running the SXSW 2019 Interactive networking group, Chad Parisman for helping admin, and Krista Mollion for live-streaming the event.

FILMING THE FILMMAKER

Towards the end of my SXSW stay, Shauna Arnot filmed me for her Haste and Hustle show.

Amrit Dhariwal was kind enough to do the videography and after the set, we had a chance to speak about growing his young presence online. As he was in need of a proper LinkedIn headshot, I got out my new iPhoneXR and did a great portrait mode headshot on the spot.

(Photo Credit: Brian Wallace)

IN CONCLUSION

And of course, this mindset isn’t just for SXSW, nor is it just a sales tactic. It’s a way of life. If you still doubt my methods, I’d suggest reading The Go-Giver by Bob Burg. Small mindset shifts make all the difference!

This post originally appeared on Grit Daily

cover image: @aaronrogosin of @outer_elements

March 25, 2019