Running Motivation – Staying Out On The Roads

“Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body.”-Lynn Jennings. This quote is so true for runners. There are so many that think running is just training your legs and your body. But, the truth is that your mind needs to be trained, also. There will be days when you may not feel like heading out the door. There will also be days when you just don’t know if you can make it through that long run. Here are some tips to help you through those times.Buying new running gear. I know that it sounds crazy – but it really does work. I especially use this one during the winter months. I hate cold weather. But, buying some spiffy new running jacket makes me want to get out there for my run. And, then if you buy a new watch or some other gadget – you just want to get out there and try it out. Silly sounding – but it does work!Try some new routes. If you run the same old route every day – yes, that can get old. Mix it up. Drive across town and run from there. Try running from the park. Whatever you need to do – try running something different. Sometimes you just need to get out of the rut.Read some running books. There are so many great running books out there. I love reading the inspirational stories of runners. There are so many runners who have overcome so much – and much of it is thanks to their running. And, who can’t be motivated to run when you hear about someone who runs with one leg or some other medical issue.Reward yourself. If your running has been hit or miss – set a goal of a certain mileage for a week or a month. And, at the same time – set what your reward will be. It can be something as simple as going to your favorite restaurant or having a snack that you usually stay away from. Or, it can be something more like having a pedicure or a massage. I’ve even purchased a new pair of running sunglasses for attaining a goal. So, be creative – set a good goal and great reward for meeting it.All runners usually have some times when then just feel that they don’t have it in them to go out and run. But, it’s usually amazing that if you can just get that first mile in – the rest of them come really easily. Hopefully, these tips will help the next time you feel “blah” about your running.

How Does Technology Support Small Businesses?

Technology is changing rapidly, and small businesses are enjoying access to better software at more affordable prices. Below are just a few of the many ways that today’s technology is supporting small businesses.Software as a ServiceRemember when it used to cost thousands of dollars for business software plus expensive licenses for each user? New software investments also often meant investing in new hardware capable of supporting that software. None of this came cheap, making it hard for business owner to keep up with larger ones with deeper pockets. Today, powerful software is readily available in the cloud “as a service.” Rather than paying huge amounts up front, Software as a Service costs are typically spread out and billed on a much lower per month basis.What types of software can you get as a service? Here are a few popular types of SaaS offerings:. Small business accounting software
. Customer relationship management software
. Content management software
. Asset management software
. Office suites (word processing, spreadsheets, etc.)
. Email marketing software
. Project management software
. Human resources software
. Team collaboration softwareCloud-based software is accessible via a Web browser, making investments in hardware virtually unheard of. Cloud service providers take care of all maintenance and upgrades, freeing small business owners from having to figure this out on their own or hire an IT tech to do it for them.”As a service” solutions also grow with your small business. You can start out with just a few licenses and then add more (or remove) users as your needs change.Data ArchivingIt’s not just software that now resides in the cloud. Document storage has also moved to the “as a service” model. For example, you’re likely familiar with Dropbox, Box, and Google Drive. A recent innovation in this space has to do with data retention and archiving.According to Dolphin, SAP Cloud Computing Solutions such as Content Archive Service for Cloud allows small business users to archive data and documents in the cloud for transparent “anytime, anywhere” access (Source: Dolphin, Cloud Storage for SAP Archived Data and Documents). Dolphin’s Content Archive Service for Cloud is a Storage as a Service solution that connects to major public cloud providers like Google Cloud and Amazon S3. Cloud storage allows for cost alignments between SAP storage and the value of your data. For example, data you frequently use can be placed on high performance storage devices whereas data you need to archive but not necessarily access regularly can be placed in a lower-cost cloud storage service — at significant savings.Merchant ServicesCloud-based credit card processing solutions allow small business users to ditch the traditional credit card processing terminal and process transactions online — or even on a smartphone with a small card reader attachment. Not only that, many cloud-based merchant services can be integrated directly within other applications such as billing software or an e-commerce store (Source: Accounting Today, Understanding How Technology Supports Small Business Success).Small businesses now have access to the same enterprise-level applications their larger counterparts use, but without the need for huge upfront expenses. From Software as a Service to data archiving, merchant services, and beyond, cloud-based technologies are changing how businesses operate.Works Cited:Accounting Today, “Understanding How Technology Supports Small Business Success,” – http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/payroll/understanding-how-technology-supports-small-business-success-72015-1.html

Highly Effective Digital Marketing Strategies

Would you like to learn some highly effective digital marketing strategies? But first of all, what is “digital marketing”? Some people believe it’s a different form of internet marketing, but in truth, it’s actually the same thing. These days people come up with all different kinds of terms to re-describe the same thing. Digital marketing is the same thing – people are just trying to profit off of a different wording of the same topic.I’m sure you’ve probably also heard the terms: “inbound marketing”, “influencer marketing”, “outbound marketing”, and etc. But all of those are the same concepts of internet marketing strategies that have been already tested and proven to work. These people are just now figuring this stuff out. So digital marketing is just internet marketing. And also, some people get it confused with eBook marketing.If you’ve ever heard of someone say “digital download”, that means that a product will be available for you to download immediately after you order. This is called a “digital product”. This is not digital marketing in its full form. Digital marketing is just a familiar term that people interchangeably use to describe tactics for promoting your products on the internet. With that out of the way, would you finally like to learn some highly effective digital marketing strategies?I want to go over a few concepts that will allow you to soar past your competitors and get you the increased traffic, sales, and profits that you are looking for. These tactics are easy to use and implement, and are simple ways that you can improve everything that you’re doing within a short period of time. Let’s take a look at the first strategy that you can use to improve your digital marketing efforts:1) Guest blog postsIt doesn’t matter what industry or niche that you operate in. With guest blog posts, you can stand out and position yourself as the “go to person” in your niche for whatever you do. You will stand out as the authority and the expert that people will instantly think of whenever your line of work comes to mind. This is essential to know, because credibility is everything online, and standing out as the obvious expert is a crucial step in gaining more new sales.So I guess you’re wondering what guest blog posts are huh? It’s okay if you don’t know. A guest blog post is simply a lengthy and informative blog post about something that you’re knowledgeable about. The blog that you submit your guest blog post to should be in your niche, and shouldn’t be a rival competitor of yours. Do you know why this is such a highly effective strategy?Usually high traffic and famous blogs in your niche will have a high readership. This means TONS of free promotion for you and your website – should your information be good – and should the blog owner request that you send more blog posts. If you can get a partnership where the blog owers wants to exclusively collaborate with you because you offer great content, this could be an endless supply of free traffic for you.Plus, you have to think about the syndication that this will get you also on social media. The more blogs you post on, and the awesome job that you do, the more your reputation will increase, and the more you will become an expert on your subject. Soon people will be coming to you, looking for more of your great information that they can use in their lives. Here’s another highly effective digital marketing strategy that you can do:2) Viral eBook marketingViral eBook marketing can do wonders for your website traffic and your business. Imagine writing a free eBook about a topic in your niche, and having it available for download on your website. You can put your website link(s) all over it, and tell the readers that they can offer it for free on their website (as a form of free content), and that they should pass it around to their friends and colleagues.This can be an amazing free traffic tool for you. The more people who download it will have the ability to use it for themselves, offer it for free, and recommend it to others. Soon with enough people downloading your free eBook, it can take off on its own and be a major traffic tool for you without you doing a thing. As long as the content is good and it benefits people, offer it on your website and let it do its thing.You will want to include your homepage link inside of it, your affiliate program link, a link to your blog or articles page, and a link to a page that has your products or services on it. That way while people are reading through your book, they will have the chance to click through to your site multiple times and potentially sign up for one of your offers. This can be a big deal.Not only that, you can submit it to the free eBook directories. eBook directories store your eBook for people to read, download, and use for promotional content on their site. Plus on some eBook directories, they require a direct link – thus giving you a high quality and relevant backlink to your site. This is digital marketing 101, and once you put it into use, you’ll see how well it can work for your business.These are 2 highly effective digital marketing strategies that you can use to improve your traffic, sales and profits right away. There are many more techniques that you can use to boost your sales for your website, but these 2 alone can put you over and above your competitors. The biggest thing to understand is that it takes repetitive efforts, and daily work to make any digital marketing strategy work. You don’t get results and make money if you’re lazy. So keep that in mind. Good luck!

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