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Guo, Xiaoqi
James K. Hammitt, Fangli Geng, Xiaoqi Guo, and Chris P. Nielsen. 2019. "Valuing mortality risk in China: Comparing stated-preference estimates from 2005 and 2016." Journal of Risk & Uncertainty, 58, 2-3, Pp. 167–186. Publisher's VersionAbstract
We estimate the marginal rate of substitution of income for reduction in current annual mortality risk (the "value per statistical life" or VSL) using stated-preference surveys administered to independent samples of the general population of Chengdu, China in 2005 and 2016. We evaluate the quality of estimates by the theoretical criteria that willingness to pay (WTP) for risk reduction should be strictly positive and nearly proportional to the magnitude of the risk reduction (evaluated by comparing answers between respondents) and test the effect of excluding respondents whose answers violate these criteria. For subsamples of respondents that satisfy the criteria, point estimates of the sensitivity of WTP to risk reduction are consistent with theory and yield estimates of VSL that are two to three times larger than estimated using the full samples. Between 2005 and 2016, estimated VSL increased sharply, from about 22,000 USD in 2005 to 550,000 USD in 2016. Income also increased substantially over this period. Attributing the change in VSL solely to the change in real income implies an income elasticity of about 3.0. Our results suggest that estimates of VSL from stated-preference studies in which WTP is not close to proportionate to the stated risk reduction may be biased downward by a factor of two or more, and that VSL is likely to grow rapidly in a population with strong economic growth, which implies that environmental-health, safety, and other policies should become increasingly protective.
Xiaoqi Guo and James K Hammitt. 2009. "Compensating wage differentials with unemployment: Evidence from China." Environmental and Resource Economics, 42, 2, Pp. 187-209. Publisher's VersionAbstract
We estimate the economic value of mortality risk in China using the compensating-wage-differential method. We find a positive and statistically significant correlation between wages and occupational fatality risk. The estimated effect is largest for unskilled workers. Unemployment reduces compensation for risk, which suggests that some of the assumptions under which compensating wage differentials can be interpreted as measures of workers' preferences for risk and income are invalid when unemployment is high. Workers may be unwilling to quit high-risk jobs when alternative employment is difficult to obtain, violating the assumption of perfect mobility, or some workers (e.g., new migrants) may be poorly informed about between-job differences in risk, violating the assumption of perfect information. These factors suggest our estimates of the value per statistical life (VSL) in China, which range from approximately US$30,000 to US$100,000, may be biased downward. Alternative estimates adjust for heterogeneity of risk within industry by assuming that risk is concentrated among low-skill workers. These estimates, which are likely to be biased downward, range from US$7,000 to US$20,000.
This study developed a new approach to the valuation of health risk in China, for monetizing health damages of environmental degradation.
Xiaoqi Guo. 2006. "The economic value of air-pollution-related health risks in China." Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics, Ohio State University.


Have you ever hoped there was a better way to gain insights into the physicians your reps are calling on? Even no-see docs? A promising new technology offers this very solution to a nagging problem.
IQcentRx, LLC, recently announced the introduction of Call-IQ, a sales force alert system that informs and streamlines conversations between pharmaceutical reps and the doctors they call on.
Call-IQ draws on a continually-refreshed body of evidence about doctors' searches, interactions and educational choices to produce immediate insights into their preferences, knowledge and prescribing habits.
This finally cracks the code of why doctors do what they do, and offers the field force specific wisdom that will satisfy the physician's needs and make the reps' calls more useful and productive.
With limited (or no) access, increased competition, a plethora of platforms, and a mountain of data to sort through, getting cozy with what HCPs are thinking – and what will instill trust and provoke action – is what every healthcare company is looking for. The advancement offered by this new approach is that its data sets are more behavioral, and not just Rx-specific.
It's one thing to know that an HCP wrote a new script. It's quite another to know why.
Call-IQ cuts way down on wasted calls, and even helps with 'no-see' docs who resist meetings with reps, but are open to pertinent breaking information. Call-IQ can be sent via email/text message, downloaded to an app on the rep's phone and even integrated within their personalized CRM system. The service provides information down to the individual doctor level.
Who should be most interested in deploying this solution?
IQcentRx believes that its products, using very high technology on the back of a robust database, and using machine learning capabilities, will increase market intelligence and lead to faster, better-informed sales cycles and marketing activities. If they are right, this could be a major inflection point in communications between reps and HCPs.


IBM Cloud Computing is considered to be a complete set of standard package agreed by all the employers all over the world. Nowadays the awareness to hold a Specialist, increased among all working peoples and students. The Specialist, can provide some of the best jobs in the industry sector. Not only Specialist, provides the job opportunity apart from that it will give the wide practical knowledge and updations based on the current development in the industries. Based on all the above one can easily go ahead with IBM Certified Solution Advisor Certification, without any job fear.


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Sustainability strategic plan in progress, council seeks public input
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State's University Sustainability Council is drafting the University's first strategic plan for sustainability and is seeking public input during the drafting process.
In Penn State's 2009-2014 University-wide strategic plan, Priorities for Excellence, University leaders noted that one key to Penn State's continuing success will be "creating a sustainable university, not just in conventional environmental terms, but in a wide array of resource dimensions, including fiscal sustainability. … [I]ncreasing pressures on global resources and environmental conditions make it imperative that Penn State embrace sustainability in its many dimensions in ways that would position the University as a leader nationally and internationally."
"The Strategic Plan for Sustainability will provide the roadmap for ensuring that the Priorities for Excellence goal of increasing the number of academic offerings that incorporate sustainability into the curriculum is met and that sustainability is researched, taught, promoted and practiced," said Rod Erickson, Penn State executive vice president and provost. "It will follow the University's strategic planning framework, and specific strategies and metrics will be developed concurrently at the college, campus and unit levels. Its development will involve students, faculty, staff, leadership, alumni, supporters and corporate partners."
In spring 2011 Erickson and Al Horvath, senior vice president for finance and business, charged a University Sustainability Council to "identify broad goals and opportunities to leverage and link the many sustainability initiatives already occurring at the University and to recommend new thrusts ... for operational initiatives, academic programs and administrative services associated with sustainability." They named Steve Maruszewski, assistant vice president of the Office of Physical Plant, and Denice Wardrop, assistant director of the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment and senior scientist and professor of geography and ecology, as the council's co-chairs.
The council has determined seven guiding principles for the strategic plan's design and implementation: consistency, transformational capacity, inclusivity, interdisciplinarity, responsibility, measurement, and transparency. The council also has defined sustainability at Penn State as "the simultaneous pursuit of economic well-being, human health and prosperity, and environmental quality in a manner that balances the needs of present and future generations."
The plan's five goals under consideration are:
-- Create an integrated living laboratory for sustainability. We will implement continuous improvement efforts and best sustainability practices in our operations, facilities and behaviors to provide an immersive sustainability experience.
-- Ensure that all Penn State students develop a deep understanding of and commitment to sustainability. We will prepare students to lead others in the implementation of sustainability strategies in their personal lives, local communities and professional pursuits.
-- Engage the Penn State community in learning about and pursuing sustainability. We will involve all students, staff, faculty, administrators, alumni, partners and supporters in learning about -- and taking meaningful action towards -- a sustainable world.
-- Develop, advance, integrate and deploy the knowledge, science and art of sustainability. We will accelerate and expand research into sustainability challenges from multidisciplinary perspectives to develop and implement solutions in our local, regional, and global communities.
-- Advance sustainability within the larger society. We will fulfill Penn State's land-grant mission to develop and implement innovative university-community partnerships that actively respond to the needs of the state and our broader communities.
The public discussion phase of the drafting process began in May 2011 and will continue through Wednesday, Nov. 23. In September and October, town hall meetings will be held at each Penn State location to give individuals the opportunity to discuss the plan in its current form and offer suggestions in support of each of the plan's five goals. For a list of town hall meeting dates, visit http://live.psu.edu/story/55039 online.
Individuals also may share ideas by email at sustainablestate@psu.edu or at http://green.psu.edu/SustPlan/form.asp/ online. Ideas submitted by the Nov. 23 deadline will be shared in a timely manner with the University Sustainability Council for their thoughtful consideration during the planning process. The final draft of the Strategic Plan for Sustainability is scheduled for completion by Dec. 31.
For answers to frequently asked questions about the Strategic Plan for Sustainability, please visit http://live.psu.edu/story/54759 online.
For a list of sustainability initiatives Penn State is already doing, visit http://green.psu.edu/psuDoing/default.asp, and to learn more about Penn State sustainability teaching and research, visit http://green.psu.edu/research/default.asp online.
Click on the image above to visit the form for sharing ideas with the University Sustainability Council, or send an email by Nov. 23 to sustainablestate@psu.edu.
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Strategic plan's academic goal teaches sustainability to students
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Paintshop Pond:
We Want You to Know
(Click to view the June 1999 Information Sheet)
(Click to view the April 1999 Information Sheet)
You may be surprised to know that Wellesley College has been conducting a number of studies and clean-up activities at the former Henry Wood's Sons Paint Factory property since the 1970s. The former paint factory property borders the western portion of the college's campus on the eastern shore of Paintshop Pond and south of Route 135. Although we've been doing a lot of work at the property and in the surrounding wetlands and water bodies, we may not have done as much communication with people who may be interested. We think you should know what has been going on, the results of these studies, and what work is planned.
HISTORY OF THE PAINT FACTORY
The former Henry Wood's Sons Paint Factory was the producer of fine colored pigments and operated between 1848 and the early 1920s. This paint factory was reportedly the largest such facility in New England at the time. The company's production of various colors of pigments involved the use of substances including arsenates, lead chromates, barium sulfates, calcium chromates and iron ferrocyanide. The company's production process discharged pigment waste onto ground surface, into unlined on-site lagoons, and into adjoining water bodies known as Waban Brook and Lake Waban.
In 1932, Wellesley College purchased the 11 acre property and paint factory buildings known as the Henry Wood's Sons Paint Factory. At the time of purchase, the College's intent was to maintain this property as open space and not allow industrial development to encroach near the campus.
In the mid-1970's, with the advent of regulatory policies and greater environmental awareness, contaminated soils and paint pigment were identified by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on the property. The College initiated numerous environmental testing programs including test pits, surface and deep soil borings and sediment and surface water sampling. The testing revealed residual paint waste pigment containing high levels of lead, chromium, arsenic, and cyanide in the surface and subsurface soils of the uplands, wetlands, sediments of Paintshop Pond, and some parts of Waban Brook and Lake Waban.
Although the College did not cause the problem, as the current owner of the property we have taken responsibility for addressing it. The College is fully committed to ensuring the protection of the health and welfare of our students, employees, visitors and area residents from exposure to areas that might have contamination.
Our most recent activities include further sampling in Lake Waban to determine the extent of contamination from historical wastewater discharges, runoff, and contaminated groundwater from the former paint factory site. Sampling was performed in October, 1997, with additional sampling planned for the Summer and Fall of 1998. Results of these studies will be used to do a complete evaluation of whether metal contamination poses any long-term risk to public health or the environment.
The recent sampling in the lake showed the presence of high levels of metals in certain portions of the lake, specifically, the northern shoreline and western cove area. As a result, we performed an evaluation referred to as an Imminent Hazard Evaluation. The purpose of this evaluation is to identify if conditions exist in these portions of the lake that on a short-term basis, might pose a significant risk to health, safety or the environment. Doing this evaluation helps us and the DEP decide if efforts need to be taken to prevent exposure from contamination that currently exists in the lake.
There are distinct areas of Lake Waban that are currently used for different purposes. Wellesley College has two designated swimming areas. Previously, the public beach area adjacent to the boathouse had been extensively sanded. Sampling of this area, as well as the Green Beach swimming area, confirms there is no risk from using these beaches. Because both these areas are safe, this evaluation focused on the two areas of Lake Waban with high concentrations of metals in sediments (the northern shoreline and the western cove). While neither of these areas are designated swimming areas, there is a possibility that people could be exposed to contamination if they frequently used these areas for boating.
OUR INITIAL RESPONSE
When the DEP informed us of the high levels of metals in the pigment found in the uncovered waste piles and lagoons on the property in 1975, we began working with DEP officials, environmental and health experts, groundwater specialists, chemists and biologists to study and to clean up the sources of contamination. Our initial actions included fencing off and covering the waste piles and lagoons to minimize contact with the material, followed by the excavation and off-site removal of these materials.
Over the years, the College has extensively studied the property (including uplands, wetlands, Paintshop Pond, Waban Brook and Lake Waban) to determine how the operations from the paint factory contaminated the soil, groundwater, surface water and sediments. To date, we have had laboratory tests done on well over 6,000 samples taken from:
Soils (both surface and at depth)
Private Drinking Water Supply Wells
Wetland Sediments
We found that the highest levels of arsenic, barium, lead and chromium were found in the actual pigment materials found on the site, and in the wetlands, and Lake and Pond sediments. Further, as a result of rainwater and groundwater coming in contact with these materials, the groundwater has become contaminated. The major groundwater contaminant is hexavalent chromium found primarily east of the Paint Factory and south of the Sports Center. Fortunately, this groundwater is not used as a drinking water source.
WHAT DID WE LOOK AT?
To have a risk, there has to be exposure to something that has potential adverse effects. Based on the results of actual sampling data, we determined the concentration of the three metals we are concerned about: lead, chromium and arsenic. Using DEP-approved exposure scenarios, we made a number of assumptions about how often someone might use these specific areas of the lake we are concerned about, and we also made assumptions about how they might get exposed.
We looked at young children (from ages less than 6 months to 6 years old) and adults who might swim and wade in these areas during the warmer months of the year. (We know that during the winter months these areas would not be used due to cold weather and ice conditions.)
How often someone might actually go swimming is related to things like accessibility and attractiveness of the area, availability of other swimming areas, and other factors that might encourage someone to wade into the water, like the presence of moored boats. We assumed that someone would be exposed 3 days per week during the summer (36 times over the course of the summer) to metals in lake sediments from direct contact with their skin and that in addition, small children would accidentally eat a small amount of sediment each time they went into the water.
WHAT DID WE FIND?
Both the public beach area and Green Beach are safe for swimming.
The surface water is checked monthly during the summer season. If during the monitoring program the level of metals in the surface water exceed so-called "trigger" levels, actions would be taken to restrict swimming and correct the situation by sanding or other means. There have been no exceedences since this plan was approved by DEP and implemented in 1995.
The results of the evaluation show that for the specific conditions we looked at, there was not a risk from lead, arsenic or chromium for young children or adults who wade or swim in the western cove area of Lake Waban.
We found that the presence of lead in sediments at the northern shoreline potentially poses a concern for children under six years of age who swim and play between 15 to within 50 feet offshore of the northern shoreline. There is not a concern if children swim or wade closer near shore.
The results of this Imminent Hazard are used to help decide if some action needs to be taken to prevent exposure. The results are based on a series of assumptions, which may or may not occur or apply to any individual. This evaluation only focused on the three metals found in high concentrations. A more complete assessment looking at all metals will be performed once all the site sampling activities are completed later this year.
Eliminating the largest sources of contamination, namely the waste piles and lagoon, was our top priority. We hired environmental clean-up contractors in 1991 and removed 3,600 tons of pigment to an approved hazardous material facility in Canada. Some of our additional activities include:
Applying 600 tons of sand within the Public Beach designated swim area to minimize contact with and migration of contaminated sediments.
Removing 250 tons of pigment from the Mary Hemenway Gymnasium to an approved hazardous material facility in Canada.
Reducing contact with the Paint Factory property by installing a fence around the perimeter of the property and wetlands to minimize contact with the contaminated soils.
Posting signs outside the fenced-in area informing people of the presence of lead chromate materials.
Capping and paving portions of the jogging path to minimize contact with contaminated soils.
Removing pigment from the waste piles and lagoon to an approved hazardous material facility; these areas were then capped with two-foot cap consisting of a clay layer and loamed and seeded.
Establishing a groundwater monitoring program at the Paint Factory site and on-campus to monitor groundwater quality.
Determining the extent of contamination in the soil, wetland sediments, and Pond and Lake sediments.
Monitoring of the College's water supply; data shows that the water quality meets the drinking water standards.
Monthly monitoring of the surface water during the swim season at the Public Beach and Green Beach.
The work which we have completed to date has substantially reduced the chance of exposure to metals present in the pigment. Our efforts have also helped to minimize further releases of metals to the environment through surface water runoff and seepage to the groundwater. By fencing the former Paint Factory, we have restricted access to areas where contamination remains and have reduced the risk of exposure.
As part of our "Phase II Comprehensive Site Investigation", the College is continuing to investigate the cause of the high levels of chromium in the groundwater east of of the Paint Factory. We are working with DEP and collectively evaluating all sources of contamination in the area both on and off-campus. Additional monitoring wells will be installed along the northern portion of the campus between Paintshop Pond and the Sports Center to determine groundwater flow and quality.
All of our work is performed under the oversight of the DEP under a very detailed set of regulations referred to as the Massachusetts Contingency Plan (MCP). The MCP outlines the requirements for notification, assessment and cleanup of contaminated sites.
Over the next several months, you will be seeing a great deal of activity at the Paint Factory Site and Lake Waban. We will continue collecting sediment and surface water samples from Paintshop Pond and Lake Waban. We will also conduct a wildlife and a fish habitat survey. The next steps in DEP's site investigation and cleanup process involve performing detailed Human Health and Environmental Risk Assessments. These assessments will determine whether remaining contamination at the site poses the potential for risk to human health, welfare or the environment under both existing site conditions and into the future. This information will be used to determine what cleanup or other appropriate steps are needed.
WHAT ARE THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF LEAD?
Lead is a metal that can have adverse health effects depending on the amount that gets into your body. Lead is particulary harmful to the developing brain and nervous system of young children and fetuses (Center for Disease Control, 1991). Children and adults are exposed to lead from many sources including air, food, and drinking water. Exposure to lead, regardless of the source, can be detected in the blood. Research has shown that adverse effects of lead on the developing nervous system occur at blood lead levels as low as 10 ug/dL. Blood lead levels as low as the target level and slightly above do not cause distinctive symptoms, but are associated with a decrease in intelligence, decreased stature or growth, and decreased hearing ability.
Children with a consistent blood lead of 15-19 ug/dL can suffer adverse effects such as mild to moderate decrease in IQ, shortened attention span, and learning and behavioral difficulties. Children with blood lead levels between 20-69 ug/dL are considered Lead Poisoned. These children, depending on their age, lead level, and duration of exposure may exhibit some visible effects of lead poisoning such as speech delays, hyperactivity, regression of recently acquired skills, irritability and change in appetite (Massachusetts Department of Public Health). Depending on the blood lead levels, various medical treatments are available. Most childhood lead exposures result from inhaling lead paint dust, eating lead paint chips, and drinking water containing lead. In Massachusetts, the Department of Public Health requires that all children, regardless of whether they are known to be exposed to any particular source of lead, be tested for lead exposure at least once between the ages of nine and twelve months and annually thereafter until they are five years old.
Regardless of the results of this Imminent Hazard Assessment, if you are concerned about your child's exposure to lead, their blood lead level should be measured. You may already have this information from the yearly screening. While the blood lead test does not give information on the source of lead exposure, it will tell you whether or not any medical attention is needed. We recommend that if you have any concern about lead exposures to your children that you contact your pediatrician and request a blood lead evaluation.
WHAT DO WE PLAN TO DO?
Because the potential from exposure to lead in sediments is dependent upon the frequency of swimming and wading activities of children along the northern shoreline, Wellesley College will immediately implement several measures to insure that the potential for exposure is limited. Once these actions are taken, the conditions along the northern shoreline would not pose an imminent hazard. The proposed actions will be implemented prior to the warmer weather when the potential to wade or swim in this area is more likely.
The College's actions include:
signs will be posted to inform the public about the high concentrations of lead in the sediments and that contact with these sediments may be harmful;
boats currently moored, or seasonally moored, along the northern shoreline will be moored elsewhere in the lake;
the milfoil (grass-like weeds which grow in the lake) that is considered a nuisance will not be harvested from the northern shoreline area; and
the shoreline will be patrolled by campus police to ensure that trespassers are not swimming and wading in this portion of the lake.
In addition to these specific actions, our site sampling activities (including monthly sampling of public beach areas in the summer) will continue. Comprehensive human health and ecological risk assessments will be performed as part of the Phase II Comprehensive Site Assessment we are completing. This comprehensive evaluation will consider current and future uses of the former paint factory site and Lake Waban.
Mary Ann Hill
Director of Public Information and Government Relations
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
205A Lowell Street
Office for Public Information


Jessica Hansen-Weaver reports on how a "homeless hate law" led to a 90-year-old advocate for the homeless being arrested--for serving food to those in need.
"DROP THAT plate right now!"
Those were the words of a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, police officer as he arrested 90-year-old Arnold Abbott, a homeless advocate who serves hot meals to homeless people twice a week through his Love Thy Neighbor organization.
This incident, which gained national media attention, has shed light on the growing number of laws criminalizing homelessness. An October report from the National Coalition for the Homeless titled Share No More: The Criminalization of Efforts to Feed People in Need has documented a dramatic increase in city ordinances aimed at restricting individuals and organizations from feeding people who are experiencing homelessness.
This is happening at a time when hunger in general is becoming a larger problem for millions of Americans as a result of the rising cost of food--and a "compromise" farm bill passed earlier this year with bipartisan support that cut $8.7 billion in food stamps.
The arrest of Arnold Abbott came two days after Fort Lauderdale commissioners passed a new ordinance restricting outdoor food sharing. This is one many restrictions in the South Florida area that homeless advocates are calling "homeless hate laws."
Such laws ban the homeless and others from soliciting at the city's busiest intersections, outlaw sleeping on public property, toughen laws against defecating in public, and make it illegal for people to store personal belongings on public property.
Arnold Abbottt has a history of challenging Fort Lauderdale policies that he considers to be unjust. In 2002, he successfully sued the city to block an earlier effort to shut down his nonprofit group's distribution of food at a beachfront city park.
"The city mayor and the commission are puppets of the mega-rich who live in Fort Lauderdale, and they want to get rid of the homeless," Arnold told the Sun Sentinel. "There are others out there who feed people on the street, but the city can scare them. I think this law is primarily aimed at us."
SINCE THE beginning of 2013, 21 cities have restricted the practice of sharing food, according to the "Share No More" report. One common way is to restrict the use of public property by requiring individuals or organizations to obtain a permit, often for a fee, to share food with people who are experiencing hunger and homelessness. Another method, used in Fort Lauderdale, is requiring groups to comply with stringent food and safety regulations.
1) Feeding people in need enables them to be homeless.
2) There are plenty of government programs to feed people in need, and they're just not being used.
3) If you stop feeding people who find themselves homeless, the problem of homelessness will disappear.
These "enabling" myths completely ignore the systemic factors which create homelessness and food insecurity. In the most unequal society in the world, there are many ways to find yourself homeless, including lack of a living wage job, lack of affordable housing, mental and physical illnesses and disabilities, and the loss of essential social services due to budget cuts.
All of these factors have been exacerbated by the economic crisis along with the decades-long bosses' offensive against working-class living standards.
The idea that there are "plenty of government programs" flies in the face of the fact that the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP)--commonly known as food stamps--is being drastically cut.
Along with the $8.7 billion cut to SNAP signed by President Obama this year, states such as Indiana have established work requirements for food stamp recipients, a change that is expected to result in thousands of people being dropped from the program.
Even before the effects of these cuts has taken place, it is estimated that one in six Americans experience hunger on a daily basis.
According to a 2013 Hunger and Homelessness Survey, conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 21 of the 25 cities surveyed reported an increase in the number of emergency food requests from the previous year. Because of this growing increase in need, many cities have had to reduce the number of times a person could visit food pantries each month, often turning people away due to lack of resources. This need is expected to continue to increase as the Department of Agriculture predicts overall food prices will increase 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent this year.
THE MYTH that homelessness will disappear if we just stop serving homeless populations is based on both delusion and cruelty. City governments have caved in to pressure from homeowners and small businesses using "Not In My Back Yard" arguments in order to police, relocate and restrict food sharing in specific residential and commercial neighborhoods.
In Ventura, California, a community of homeowners who live near Harbor Community Church--which has weekly food-sharing program--have proposed a law that would forcibly relocate the church if they did not stop food-sharing. Susanne Underwood told Fox LA that the program "brought vagrancy, and we were quite shocked how suddenly this was upon us."
The most insulting premise for restricting food-sharing is the supposed concern of authorities about health violations. In fact, inadequate nutrition is a leading cause of health problems for poor and homeless people.
Without proper nourishment, an individual may suffer severe medical problems, including anemia, dental problems, gastric ulcers, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and long-term effects on mental health. According to the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, those experiencing homelessness are three to four times more likely to die prematurely than their housed counterparts, and they have an average life expectancy as low as 41 years.
That harsh treatment and degradation [of the poor] have always constituted a dramatic warning to the mass of working people trying to survive on their earnings. The practices of relief or the workhouse or welfare sent the message that there was a worse fate than low-wage work: to fall into abject poverty and become a pauper.
The arrest of Abbott Arnold is a reminder that those in charge of this society can find even the most basic acts of kindness and charity to be a threatening display of solidarity--even though these charitable acts actually do government a favor by relieving it of its rightful responsibility to provide food and homes for all.
This is another sign of the backwards priorities of a system where people who show solidarity towards the poor and homeless are arrested, while the policy makers who allow them to starve get off scot-free.


Magpi offers two types of heatmap in Magpi Reports: unweighted and weighted.
With unweighted heatmaps, the intensity of the heatmap depends on the density of map points in an area. You can easily produce an unweighted heatmap for any form for which you have geodata collected (geodata can be collected using GPS stamp, or GPS questions). Just add a "Map Records" report element, and specify which form contains the data, and which location field contains the geodata.
the first multiple choice option (agree) gets a weight of 3, the second gets a weight of 2, and the third gets a weight of 1. Map points where the response was "agree" will show up as darker/redder than map points that chose neutral or agree.
The Magpi Plus mobile app (download) allows the field data collector to acquire geodata in the field easily. When answering a GPS question inserted in a Magpi form, the data collector will see the question prompt (e.g. "Please record the location").
Thanks to the support of Women's Refugee Commission, we've also added some compelling new mapping features to our Magpi Reports.
We know these enhancements will help our 100,000+ users around the globe to more easily get their field data, create even more compelling visualizations, and better display their work to the world. And as always, we'll be moving forward both to add even better map options, and mobile forms capability, but also to further improve the Magpi experience with big improvements aimed at our web application. Stay tuned!


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Clip Art Through the Years: A Nostalgic Look Back
Home / Clip Art Through the Years: A Nostalgic Look Back
Canonical, Daily, Design
When I was growing up, it was a pretty big deal to have a computer with an operating system other than DOS. If you had an Apple, or even a computer with Windows, your house was the place to be. Not only were you likely to have the coolest games, but also, you probably had access to clip art libraries, which made for hours of entertainment — for me, at least.
Today, it's hard to imagine a world where you can't procure an image just by searching for it online. When I was in school, the only way to include a picture in a book report, for example, was with enough luck to find what I was looking for in a magazine. Clip art opened up a whole new world of visuals for academic assignments — not to mention, the newsletters that my childhood, future-writer self liked to put together for fun.
But today, clip art has become a bit of a thing of the past, at least since Microsoft retired its version in 2014. That's an important distinction — clip art isn't limited to Microsoft, and actually had several predecessors before it found its way into the likes of Word and PowerPoint.
And maybe its retirement was for the best — when I think back to some of its more popular images, they would look positively antiquated today. But where did clip art come from, anyway? Today, we're honoring its legacy with a trip through time.
The History of Clip Art
Source: Computer History Museum
It all began with the idea to create a digital library of images. That was made possible by a program called VCN ExecuVision, a presentation program created in 1983 for IBM personal computers. Think of it as a primitive version of PowerPoint. But the $400 software didn't come with these image libraries — instead, they were available on separate floppy disks that had to be purchased for $90 each.
But despite this seemingly trailblazing effort on behalf of IBM, it was really Apple who may have emerged as a leader in the digital image space, at least around the early-to-mid 1980s. That's partially due to the 1984 development of MacPaint, which was released alongside Apple's word processing program, MacWrite. As the story goes, they were the only two applications pre-installed on this historic Macintosh 128K.
But what made MacPaint so important was its role as the first program that allowed users to manipulate bitmap images: The "simple line art," according to The Atlantic, that comprised "early electronic clip art."
Source: DigiBarn
Not long after that, however, the T/Maker Company collaborated with Apple to develop another word processing program, WriteNow. While it's not clear if that particular program came equipped with its own image library, the same company began producing and selling groups of bitmap images under a new name: ClickArt.
Source: Vetusware
Source: MakeUseOf
By the mid-1990s, T/Maker was the largest distributor of unlicensed images, with a library of roughly half a million in 1995. Microsoft took note of ClickArt's success, and thought to eliminate the extra step of having to install additional software to access artwork. So in 1996, Microsoft Word 6.0 came equipped with 82 clip art images — a miniscule amount compared to the 120,515 files available on openclipart.org today.
And yet, Microsoft became the brand most strongly identified with the idea of clip art, despite its predecessors having laid much of the groundwork. That could be because its in-app nature — across the entire Microsoft Office Suite — made adding art to documents and presentations a groundbreakingly seamless process.
The Early 2000s
Source: Wayback Machine
By August 2000, at least 41% of U.S. households had computers with internet access, indicating that people were using it more and more for consuming information and media. And like so many other things — books, for one — clip art was becoming available for purchase online via sites like clipart.com, which is still in existence, but today looks a bit different than its 1996 counterpart above.
And while clip art isn't exactly one of those things that we think of as having suffered "death by download" — like books, music, and movies — the ability to procure images online made something like Microsoft's in-app feature obsolete.
Clip Art's (Semi) Retirement
In December 2014, Microsoft announced that it would be doing away with any in-app art libraries.
"The Office.com Clip Art and image library has closed shop," the statement read.
Instead, users would now have to use either images from their own devices, or those found through Bing Image Search, where they're now automatically sent when searching for art within Microsoft apps — step-by-step directions can be found here.
The announcement, for many, read as the end of an era. What would become of cartoonish images of urban landscapes, or out-of-date business travelers with flip phones? As it turns out, if that's what you're looking for, you might be in luck.
Clip Art in 2017 and Beyond
For those who need a fix of this kind of old-school imagery, not all hope is lost. There are still plenty of resources out there to find these pictures, including the aforementioned sites openclipart.org and clipart.com. Plus, as The Atlantic so astutely points out, if you search Bing images for "clip art," you might find some of those fittingly nostalgic results:
And perhaps this version of clip art isn't really gone for good — after all, NPR once noted Microsoft's penchant for revitalizing its older pieces of technology, like Clippy.
In any case, clip art has certainly taken many forms over the years — and we're curious to see what shape, if any, it takes in the future.
Which clip art images make you the most nostalgic? Let us know in the comments.
About the author: Amanda Zantal-Wiener
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Digital Producer provides reviews and tutorilas for video editing, 3D animation, special effects and digital imaging news and tutorials.
Dentist - Dr. Jay Fensterstock of Concerned Dental Care specializes in Dental procedures serving Long Island, Manhattan, Bronx, Yonkers, Queens, Richmond Hill, South Ozone Park.
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The unveiling of shop shelves studded with Valentine's merchandise is so swift each year that you'd be forgiven if you were still in the Setsubun isle, or with fukubukuro in one hand, when you stumble upon the gangs of 2016 chocolate. The clever designs and tight collaborative efforts with many a familiar Japanese character, thank you Sanrio and Disney for those, jostle unashamedly for your attention. Somewhere between the Meiji chocolate bars and the Valentines appropriate heart-shaped moulds, I found a treasure chest of Japanese special edition goodness. From Gudetama, Sanrio's well-received lazy egg character to the cult favourites of The Little Prince and Star Wars, there was very little left to the imagination. If in dire need of creating something with your own two hands, Japan's chocolatiers have got you sorted with DIY chocolate sets that the kids could manage themselves this year.
It is well known in Japan that Valentines Day chocolates need not end with husbands, lovers or sons, but could extend as far as your office workers as well as between girlfriends. The debate of whether to gift male office workers is still on, with some offices prohibiting the exchange altogether. However, the likelihood that handmade chocolates of some sort, or dare I say a store-bought Tanuki chocolate pot, may very well appear on your desk if you are a Japanese salaryman. This is known as honmei choco. If you are the sort who likes to swap chocolates with your friends and buck the girl-to-guy exchange trend, it is said you gift tomochoco. Thanks to the Japanese system of White Day, men will have a month to return this thoughtful sentiment with a more extravagant 'thank-you' gift on March 15th where the onslaught by the confectionary giants emerge yet again to bring you candy gems and all things sugar and spice. Although the thought of what gift would trump a congenial Tanuki with a belly full of chocolate would undoubtably have me stumped.
Let's talk Japanese Valentine's trends in 2016. What chocolates are rocking the shelves this year in Japan is anyone's guess. The choices are endless and the chocolate so variable, but after a scan of the best of 2016 Japanese character chocolates and witnessing the 'kawaii!' cries from a handful of Japanese high school girls and housewives sifting through the good, the bad and the ugly of it, I feel qualified if not ready to make a bold declaration of what might kick off in Japan this year. Step aside chocolate DIY toolkit and chocolate body-paint of yesteryear, but Luke Sky Walker's chocolate wands, white pistachio Yoda and milk salt Storm Trooper bars seems to have the ladies squealing in delight. Another popular choice and which had pride of place in store the store I visited was Gudetama. My heart too was lost in the gimmicky section of handmade chocolate Gudetama moulding sets and the boxed chocolate Japanese Yen and milk chocolate Japanese curry packs where drawing a fair bit of attention. Less popular but still with a cursory shake were the candy pills in life-like medicinal packs and the sake jars, Kirin beer still hold more wow-factor in 2016 than any Wonka bar or chocolate heart could deliver.
Should you find yourself passing through Japan during late January, or early February, don't forget to pick up some of these Japanese-themed chocolates as souvenirs for your hungry friends and family. Also be sure to check your travel guides for Japanese department store chocolate fairs' which are often held in the confectionary section on the basement level. My favourite Valentine's fair to visit is ISETAN's in Shinjuku, Tokyo which showcases many of the top chocolatiers works in novel shapes and forms. Not all chocolates sold are local brands, but I am a firm supporter of the Japanese brand Mary 1950 which has some be-speckled chocolate slabs encrusted with anything from cranberries to crispy rice puffs and never fail to leave my mouth watering. If you haven't time to visit Hokkaido during your stay in Japan, really do find a way to eat your body weight in salty chocolate chips from Royce, you will not regret it!
Naha: Best Food in Japan?
Happy Valentine's Day from Japan!


The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has gone into effect on May 25, 2018. It's a new era of personal data protection and privacy for EU citizens. However, despite its target subjects, businesses around the world should educate themselves on what it entails and how it affects their organizations.
In this article, we'll discuss what GDPR is, what it protects, and how it affects businesses around the world, including yours.
GDPR was built on the Data Protection Directive of 1995 and the Fair Information Practices, which helped in shaping the US data protection policies. It gives the consumer control back to EU citizens and residents over their own personal data.
In a nutshell, GDPR protects EU customers from both individuals and organizations regardless of the nexus of the data-collecting businesses or organizations in four ways. This being said, even if your company or institution isn't based in the EU, you still need to comply with it when it comes to dealing with EU customers.
First, EU consumers have the right to demand any data provided to businesses and organizations immediately.
Second, EU consumers connect with organizations that use their data more meaningfully.
Third, businesses and organizations are compelled to use data more carefully, especially when it comes to monetizing.
Fourth, businesses and organizations focus on building trust with consumers while providing the highest level of service in the GDPR requirements.
Considering the penalty for violation can be as high as USD 20 million, it's recommended that all businesses around the world that might be dealing with EU customers to adopt GDPR measures immediately. Even if your organization doesn't have any direct relationship with EU customers but, perhaps, sends out e-mail newsletters regularly, you still need to adhere to it.
Below are the 15 essential points on implementing GDPR in your organization.
1. Always store all data on employees, customers, and suppliers very carefully. Make sure to back them up both online and offline in multiple places.
2. Parental consent is required for children under 16 years when using online services.
3. Only keep data when it's necessary. This means that unused data need to be purged immediately.
– Who is collecting it? It's your business.
– What information is being obtained? The data subject's personal information.
– How is it collected? Online via subscription form or other methods.
– Why is it being collected? Describe the reason, such as for servicing or marketing purposes.
– How will it be used? Describe how it will be used, such as to deliver products or send promotional emails.
– Whom will it be shared with? Describe the third parties with whom the data will be shared.
– Is the intended use likely to cause individuals to object or complain? Describe the intention clearly.
– What will be the effect of this on the individuals concerned? Describe the impact of the data subjects.
6. Always be ready to respond when asked for data information within one month and free of charge.
7. Be ready to delete data if asked wholly and immediately.
8. Consumers must opt-in to be included in data storing. It can be in the form of ticking "accept" or double opt-in like when confirming the e-mail subscription.
9. Use a layered opt-in form with two boxes and embedded with statements like this, "Yes, I want to receive the latest marketing tips from ABC Company. Read more about how your information is used." It should be linked to a page of explanations on how their information will be used.
10. Design the form for people to easily opt-out or unsubscribe. No small prints and no legal jargons are allowed.
11. Train all employees about the new GDPR laws and how it affects their business.
12. If you purchase a list, perform due diligence on it, to ensure that it's GDPR ready.
13. When selling your organization to another party, make sure to sign the "assignment clause," which allows the new owner to store and use data for identical purposes.
14. If you want to use the existing data, ask them to opt-in again after May 25, 2018.
15. In the case of breach of the data record, you must comply to local data protection authority, report to them and the owners of data within 72 hours. Failure to do so may result in substantial penalties, as high as USD 20 million.
In conclusion, any business or organization that might encounter EU-based customers should implement GDPR policies to be on the safe side. Get yourself trained and start a GDPR division. It's a new era for data protection and privacy.


Make It is a series of DIY projects inspired by ideas from our fans and our engineers.
It all began with a clever hack.
Netflix personal trainer got its start at Hack Day, an annual Netflix event where engineers have 24 hours to create any kind of Netflix-related device or software they can dream up. One of the event's recent standout projects, called the Commit Hack, became an inspiration for the latest Make It project.
Make your own ultimate Netflix experience.
Each Make It project requires a familiarity with electronics and basic programming skills, and it doesn't hurt to have a passion for crafting. We provide a list of the materials you'll need, as well as the schematic to put them all together. Plus, we publish all our code open source, so you can tweak your Netflix socks, Switch or personal trainer to meet your own unique Netflix needs.


MUSIC fans are invited to a record fair at Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton, on September 11.
MUSIC fans are invited to a record fair at Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton, on September 11. Admission is £2 and the event starts at 10am.


The Sapphire Soul "Mindful & Mystic" box is a monthly subscription box that helps you "inspire your mind, take care of your body and open your soul".
Each month you'll receive an assortment of thoughtfully curated items that often are centered around a particular theme. Boxes will include items such as candles, essential oils, jewelry, crystals, holistic wellness products, and more! All of the items are chosen to help you achieve happiness and balance for your mind, body, and soul.
Subscriptions are $45/month, or less with multi-month commitments. Shipping is free. For a limited time, you can use coupon code AMETHYST for a free piece of tumbled amethyst with any monthly or quarterly box purchase OR code MGODDESS for $28 off your first quarterly box (Moon Goddess!) debuting this March.
Let's see what's in the February 2016 Sapphire Soul box!
February's theme was "Valentine Magic" and featured a fun selection of Valentine's Day inspired treasures.
Many of the items were tucked inside of a cute candy box secured with a black bow.
The box also served as a holder for a collection of crystals.
Valentine Candy Box of Crystals ($37+) – Pretty! Seven different crystals were included in the box — disregard the items in squares 1 and 3 for now. 😉 I thought it was such a cool, unique way to display them. Perfect for Valentine's Day!
The box also came with info cards to go along with the crystals, but I'm not 100% sure that all of them matched up with what I received. That said, I'm pretty awful at figuring out which crystals are which.
One of the crystals came with its own little display box, but it escaped from it during transit. I *think* I matched it with the correct crystal, as it this was the only one that was hand carved.
Gem-Infused Essential Oil Blend ($3) – This little guy was also shipped in the candy box. It's a tiny bottle of gem-infused essential oil that smells quite nice. I don't know exactly what the blend is, but I like it.
Affirmation Candle ($3.50) – Use this reiki energy charged candle to encourage prosperity & wealth to come into your life as you light it and recite its blessing. It contains a natural essential oil blend of nutmeg, clove, citronella, cinnamon, myrrh, and rain.
Adam Rabbit Quartz Earrings ($15) – What a pretty color! I don't have pierced ears anymore, but if I did I would totally rock these earrings. The shade of blue is gorgeous and I really wish these were in the form of a necklace so I could wear 'em.
Stash Tea Sampler ($2) – I love green tea, so I was happy to see these two blends included — mojito mint and jasmine blossom. Mmm!
Sneak Peek – Also included was an inspirational bookmark and a Mystic Moons oracle card which will be included as a full deck in the upcoming March box!
Remember — For a limited time, you can use coupon code AMETHYST for a free piece of tumbled amethyst with any monthly or quarterly box purchase OR code MGODDESS for $28 off your first quarterly box (Moon Goddess!) debuting this March.


The mission of The Highlands Christian Fellowship is to help people say "yes" to God. We know that everyone is somewhere on their journey with Jesus. At times, we all need help to overcome the hurts, hang-ups, or habits we have encountered on the way.
The classes and groups offered are designed to meet practical needs, be safe supportive places for healing to occur, and be steps towards spiritual maturity and wholeness. All support groups are handled with dignity, care, and confidentiality.


Have you been struggling to get sales on your store? Do you need marketing ideas that'll actually work even if you hardly have any money to spend?
If you're a new entrepreneur, you might've struggled with Facebook ads. Maybe you got a bit too excited and blew $1000 on your first ad thinking you'd be guaranteed to make money back instantly.
Only to be left with zero conversions.
Or maybe you just lost your job and need to make money fast to pay your bills.
Hey, I've been there too.
This marketing ideas article isn't the short-cut to success.
It'll test you and force you into hustle-mode.
Meaning, if you want to make money and you don't have much to spend, you're going to need to invest your most-prized possession: your time.
So if you have the time it takes to do it yourself, you've got some work up ahead. If you stick to it over the long-term you'll be more likely to reap the rewards of running a profitable store online.
Eventually, once you've started making money you can invest your profits into Facebook ads to make passive income. But for now, if you need cheap marketing ideas, this article will help teach you how to make money online with a low-budget.
LinkedIn used to be the social platform for finding a job and professional networking. Today, it's become a viral platform for getting your message across. It's one of the best marketing ideas for small businesses. It's normally known for business to business marketing but the business to consumer potential is still there.
To succeed on LinkedIn, you need to do whatever it takes to excel at content creation. Most of the most viral LinkedIn influencers got their start by writing for LinkedIn's Pulse blog. Fortunately, anyone can add a blog post to it. Occasionally, when you write a great post, LinkedIn will bump it up allowing even more people to view it. This online marketing strategy is a slow and steady kind of game but you can build your following this way.
The next part, is that you also want to post something every day. Not all of your posts will be home-runs but eventually if you do it often enough you'll start to increase your audience size. The magic formula usually involves telling an emotional story. The first two sentences need to hook people in to get them to click to read more.
Buuuut, how does this marketing idea make money?
To monetize your LinkedIn, you can add links to your store in your posts and blog content. On day one, you can list your store link in your bio. For example, "Rosa is the founder of AwesomeStoreofStuff.com". As you start growing your audience size, you can afford to become a little less subtle and add a Shopify buy button to your post.
Remember, the goal of the posts is to add value. If you write an article that only lists your products, no one's gonna read it or share it.
In a Pulse article, you might promote your fitness brand by writing an article on 'How to Find the Time to Workout When All You Do is Work.' Since LinkedIn is mostly a work platform it's still targeted to the core audience while also being relevant to your business idea. However, the post also connects with your specific audience.
This is one of the most cost-effective marketing ideas when it comes to influencer marketing. Most influencers charge between $200-$400 to take a picture with your product and post it on their social accounts.
However, if you're just starting out that can be a lot of money. Plus, will it convert? There's no guarantee.
To ensure that you're not spending more than you have to, you should give Instagram influencers an affiliate link using a Shopify app like Refersion. You'll need to pay an enticing commission to encourage influencers to incentivize them into partnering with you.
Most affiliate programs offer a 10% commission. However, with an influencer, you'll want to offer them a bit more than that, about 33% of your product price, which would be about the price of advertising if you do a 3x multiple on your products. For example, 33% product cost, 33% ad cost, 34% profit.
This marketing idea comes with a fair bit of rejection up ahead. It's a numbers game. That means the more people you reach out to the more likely you are to get a number of influencers who are willing to work out a deal like this.
Stick to smaller influencers to start in the 10,000-30,000 followers range. As you start perfecting your program you can start aiming for influencers with a larger following.
If you already have customers, another marketing idea is to offer your customers discounts or pay them a commission for referring their friends to your store. This can also help increase customer loyalty to your brand.
YouTube allows you to make money in two ways. First, you can add links to your store in your description or as an annotation. Second, you can make money with ads.
The average YouTuber posts a new video each week. Video creation can be time consuming. And coming up with great ideas can be hard as you create more videos.
However, the more frequently you post a quality video, the more likely you're to be found on YouTube.
Creating videos doesn't need too many resources, especially if you star in the video yourself.
Direct selling likely won't perform well so you'll need to be a bit subtle. For example, creating a hair tutorial video and mentioning that the link to the product you're using is in the description is subtle compared to an entire video talking about the hair tool.
As your following grows, so will your store's profits and your store's ad revenue. This low budget marketing idea focuses around execution. The more you create, the more you can gain.
When you're just starting out, you can focus on trying to rank for long tail keywords within your niche. Aim for keywords that have low competition, which you can easily sort by in Google Keyword Planner.
If you're struggling to get traffic to your store, SEO optimization can help you increase it organically. You can use Shopify apps like Plug In SEO or SEO Manager to optimize the pages of your online store without needing any advanced qualifications.
An SEO focus is a long-term marketing idea but an effective one. They help keep your customer acquisition costs low. You'll need to spend some time optimizing your product pages and blog content for keywords. However, eventually, you'll be driving free traffic to your store.
A great way to spike traffic organically is to do 'content freshness.' This is when you add a bit more new information, secondary keywords, and remove outdated content from the page. If you do this to your content every few months, you could start ranking higher in search results. Avoid making big revisions such as deleting all the content on the page as this can negatively affect your results.
Facebook groups are a great way to sell products on your online store. You can join buy and sell groups in your community using keywords like 'Buy and Sell Toronto' if you're in Toronto. If your city has small communities you can even use those communities as the keyword to find active people in your area.
You can also create your own Facebook group to build an active community of people within your niche. This is a bit more of a long-term play. You don't want to oversell to that group as it'll prevent people from joining and could ruin the long-term effectiveness of the group. You can post a promotional post once a week depending on how active your Facebook group is. You can promote your Facebook group on your website, via your customer email list and in other forums or relevant groups.
Contests and giveaways are an effective way to increase social engagement and gain new customers. The prize you giveaway needs to be compelling enough to draw a crowd of people to want to sign up to win a prize. You'll also want to include a feature that offers points for people who refer their friends to your giveaway to increase the reach of your giveaway.
After the giveaway has ended and the winner chosen. You'll want to send an email out to everyone who didn't win to offer a runner up prize. For this runner up prize, offer a small gift card of $5 that they can use on your store. Make sure that nothing in your store can be bought for free and make sure that your products are priced high enough that you can still make a profit even with the gift card. You'll likely get a few customers and sales using this strategy.
Advertising works. It's a proven way to make money in ecommerce. However, if you're just starting out, you're probably looking for marketing ideas for small businesses with tiny budgets. That doesn't mean there aren't ways around this. Advertising networks like Google Adwords, Facebook and LinkedIn sometimes offer ad credits for first time advertisers to experiment with advertising on their platform.
Before creating your first ad do your research. You don't want to blow your free ad credit on a thoughtless ad. Learn the steps to creating a successful ad on that platform. Look at examples of ads with high engagement to understand what a great ad looks like.
increase the chances that one of your pins (posts) goes viral.
The free traffic alone won't lead to sales especially if the traffic doesn't land on a product page. For example, if you pin an infographic from one of your blog posts. So to monetize the traffic from Pinterest, you'll need to have a Facebook retargeting ad running at all times. That way, if someone clicks onto your link but doesn't see a product photo, you can remarket to them the second time around to increase conversions.
Partnership marketing is a great way to leverage another brand's audience. You can do this a number of ways. First, you can do this by writing a guest post on another relevant niche blog and including a link back to your website to get free traffic back. Second, you and another complementary brand can do shout-outs on your social media pages to get access to new customers. Third, you can have sister brands where you and a competitor link out to each other on your top navigation of your website.
Ideally, you want to tap into an audience that's bigger than yours. However, that can be tricky as you don't want to take advantage of another brand as that can ruin the relationship long-term. Thus, you'll need to provide something of equal value. If you can't afford to buy a way into the audience you can trade your time by writing content or helping them with a project that they need assistance with to build a bigger audience. If you dropship event clothing for parties, weddings and other special occasions, why not partner with a company who can match the occasion with a special scent at a discounted price, and vice versa.
Email marketing is one of the most low budget marketing ideas with a great return. You can build your email list on your website with an opt-in form. However, when customers order from your store you'll have a list of customers who are open to receiving marketing information. When you're just starting out, marketing to your email list can be free depending on the number of subscribers you have. You can send out emails for special sales promotions highlighting certain collections or showcasing your best-sellers for the week.
You can send marketing emails to your list once a day to help increase the odds of landing a sale from your email campaigns. Sending too many emails can lead to unsubcribes. So be sure to make sure that multiple emails aren't sent to the customer on the same day. For example, if you send emails after purchase or abandoned cart emails as well as your daily marketing emails you'll want to make sure that the customer doesn't receive more than one email total each day.
You've probably noticed that this list centers around content creation. Content marketing has been skyrocketing over the past couple of years because it works. It can result in the best return on investment (ROI) making it one of the most profitable ways to grow your store naturally. While advertising helps drive instant sales, content creation helps you build a long-term brand by lower acquisition costs and increasing online visibility.


How much time and money do you want to lose when it come to your business? If your employee arrives to open the doors at your business, and does not have the keys, time and money are being washed away. These things can happen. However, if you have a plan in place for these types of emergencies you can significantly cut your losses and get things up and running quickly. That is why it is important to have an Emergency locksmith Lawrence on call for your business.
There is no reason for the employee to drive to his home and get the keys. This only costs more in time and money. Further, if clients or prospects come up to the door and see it is locked and no one is there, what will they think? They may wonder if you are going out of business. Do not give clients and prospects a reason to walk away. Your employee needs to man the door. If anyone comes to the door, he can explain that the door will be open shortly. For this reason, clients and prospects will see that you know how to solve problems in the right way.
It is important to to find the best Emergency locksmith Lawrence. Then talk to to him about where your business is located and what type of locks you have on your doors. He will go over the rates with you, and you will be thrilled to hear the good news. The best professionals are found at Lockworks Lawrence.
It is time to prepare your business for emergencies. There may come a time when you could lose significant time and money. Clients and prospects do not want to be standing behind your locked doors. In fact, they may decide to leave and head to your competition. For this reason, you need to be pro-active when it comes to running your business and addressing problems before they happen. The best way to do that is to know who to call for help. Click here to hire the best locksmith to get your employees into the building when they are locked out.


We are in the heart of the Tuscan countryside: Florence (reachable in 20 minutes by car or train), Arezzo (30 minutes), Siena (60 minutes), Chianti (30 minutes); Grocery store, station 1.5 kilometers (S. Ellero); All kinds of shops in Donnini (3.5 km) or Pontassieve (7 km).
At your disposal a 6X12 meters wide swimming pool, stone serena finished and adjacent to the cottage. As to depth, the pool varies between 120 cm and 240 cm and it is reserved esclusively for those who are staying in the agriturism. It is sorrounded by a wide garden underneath the structure and it offers a view of Valdarno. Cypresses, oak trees, acacias shall provide natural shadow during the hot summer days, offering a special framing of the sunsets behind the Chianti hills. The pool is open during the period going from 1/6 to 15/9 and it is not provided with bathers assistance.
"Tennis is more than just a sport. It is an art, like the ballet. Or like a performance in the theater. When I step on the court I feel like Anna Pavlova. Or like Adelina Patti. Or like Sarah Bernhardt.I see the footlights in front of me. I hear the whisperings of the audience. I feel an icy shudder. Win or die! Now or never! It's the crisis of my life".
Inside the property there is a new tennis court covered with syntetic grass. It is situated nearby the agriturism, and it is at full disposal of guests. It is open every day, all day long; the entrance is free and reservation is not necessary. If requested, we offer rackets and tennis balls.
Recently renovated, it offers our guests services for dinner and breakfast.
A chance to taste the tipical local recepies, while immersed in the splendour of the Tuscan countryside, among tradition and creativity. The local offers a classy-furnished veranda and a familiar and welcoming atmosphere to eat outdoors in the summer nights.