Table of Contents Introduction ........................ 5 What You Will Learn in This Book ................... 7 Chapter 1: Two Massive Opportunities – Social Media and the Sharing Economy ... 10 How Facebook Has Changed the World and Continues to Change the World ......... The Sharing Economy ................... 14 Chapter 2: More Opportunities for Innovation: Crowdsourcing and Software-As-Service ........................ 18 Incredible, Innovative Examples of Crowdsourcing Businesses .................... 19 Crowdfunding ........ 21 Chapter 3: Creating a ‘Product As Service’ Business ............... 23 Apps and More Opportunities . 25 Chapter 4: How to Stumble on Your BIG Idea .......... 28 Productizing a Service .................. 29 Solving Your Pain Points ............ 30 How to Identify a Need in a Market and Fulfill It ........ 31 Chapter 5: How to Think Like an Entrepreneur – Getting Into a Creative, Paradigm-Shifting Mindset ........ 34 How to Become More Inventive and Creative ............. 35 Chapter 6: Time to Get Practical – Can You Build Your Idea? ................... 40 How to Theoretically Make Your Idea Happen ........... 41 How to Create Your Own Mobile App, SAS or Social Media Network 41 Creating Your Own Physical Product .. 45 Chapter 7: Validating Your Idea – Does Your Innovation Work as a Business? 49 How to Validate Your Idea ......... 51 The Fail-Fast Mentality ................. 52 Chapter 8: Protecting Your Idea .................... 55 How to Protect Your Intellectual Property ....................... 56 Chapter 9: Funding Your Disruptive Business Idea .................... 60 Crowdfunding .............. 60 Other Sources of Cash ................. 62 Finding Investors ...... 63 Chapter 10: How to Market Something Entirely New .................. 65 Consider a Slow Roll Out............ 66 Embrace Being Different ............. 68 Explain Your Message .................. 68 Find Ambassadors .. 69 Conclusion: The Long Journey Ahead ... 7 Sample Content Preview Chapter 1: Two Massive Opportunities – Social Media and the Sharing Economy We live in an incredibly exciting time for business and technology. Apart from anything else, I find it immensely satisfying and exciting that it is now possible to earn money online from anywhere in the world. I am an entrepreneur myself and right now, as I write this book, I am sitting in a café in Oxford, England. I’m looking down at the street below, people watching while I sip my mocha and type this book out on my Surface Pro that sits on my lap. The web has transformed the way we do business. Just fifteen years ago, it would have been unheard of to think that you could earn a living this way. My Uncle put it well when he said that internet marketers and digital entrepreneurs are really pioneers – exploring new ways to live and work. I’ll take that compliment. But as I mentioned, internet marketing is really only the tip of the iceberg. The web is far more transformative than simply allowing us to work from other locations. Right now, technologies like the web and mobile phones are transforming countless industries in ways that we could never have predicted or foreseen. And the future is looking even more incredible. The opportunities that this presents for savvy business is huge and if you’re willing to take advantage of the changing face of business and economy, then you can not only profit HUGELY but also steer the course of mankind’s future. Not to be hyperbolic or anything! How Facebook Has Changed the World and Continues to Change the World When you think of transformative businesses that work online, perhaps the one that comes to mind first is Facebook. Facebook is of course a social media network that allows us to connect to people we’ve met both online and in the real world. Today, if you meet someone at a party, you don’t need to ask for their number – you can just get their name and then look them up on Facebook! Of course, the notion of a social network was not new when Mark Zuckerberg first built Facebook. We already had the likes of MySpace and Friendster. But what was new was the way that Mark went about marketing and designing Facebook. The ability to tag friends in photos was one of the first big innovations that made the platform stand out, for instance. And then came the inclusion of the ‘home feed’ – controversial at first, but ultimately a fantastic way to catch up on what all your friends were doing. Smart design choices like this and a fantastic roll-out ultimately resulted in Facebook becoming larger than any single country in the world in terms of its members. Not only that, but it has genuinely changed the way that we interact with other people. Many of us, for instance, now have some idea of what our classmates from school are doing with their lives. These are people that we never would have stayed in touch with otherwise. Likewise, many of us will now find it easier to maintain a larger social network. But Mark and co. are not happy to stop there and call it a day. They’ve already acquired Oculus with the intention of allowing us to meet our friends in a virtual setting for example. And in the future, they plan on introducing systems to help communities work together and even vote on important matters. Zuckerberg wants this to serve as a blueprint for how governments could one day handle elections and referendums. Facebook has also been credited with helping to make the world a slightly smaller place; for helping us to gain a better understanding of people in different parts of the world. And through exposure to Western influences, it has been credited with leading to many progressive movements – including the Arab spring. Would the fall of Gaddafi have happened if it were not for Facebook? Of course, it’s not all positive either. Facebook has also contributed to the perpetuation of ‘fake news’ – and this has even been suggested to have helped contribute to the election of president Trump! Facebook has also been a place for extreme views to be perpetuated and there has been much discussion as to whether Facebook should take a more active role in policing its feeds and groups.

Table of Contents Introduction 6 Chapter One: Understand Satisfaction Is A Mindset 9 What Does It Mean To Be Satisfied? 10 Lack, Abundance, and Satisfaction 12 Practice Satisfaction 13 Chapter 2: Learn The Difference Between Expectations and Wants 16 Turning Wants Into Expectations Can Lead To Satisfaction Troubles 17 Losing Satisfaction From Lost Experiences 19 Chapter 3: Self Love Isn’t Easy 23 Self Love Doesn’t Have To Mean Stagnation, Just Satisfaction 25 Making Self Love Easier 26 Take Yourself Out For Some Self Care 27 Be Around People Who Love You 28 Chapter 4: Tame Your Inner Voice 30 Step 1: Focus On What The Inner Voice Is Telling You 31 Step 2: Counter Each Negative Phrase With Something Positive 32 Having An Out Of Control Positive Inner Voice 33 Chapter 5: Less Is More 36 How Less Is More Can Lead To Satisfaction 37 This Applies To Everything 38 Chapter 6: Know When Social Media Is Toxic 41 What Is Toxic Social Media? 42 How To Overcome Toxic Social Media 43 Clearing Out The Errant Toxicity 44 Chapter 7: Don’t Be Afraid To Try New Things 47 The Base Level Of Happiness 48 What New Things Should I Try? 49 Chapter 8: Life Is A Journey, Not A Destination 52 Focus On What Really Matters 53 Don’t Be Afraid To Rest And Just Be Content 54 Have Some Fun 55 Conclusion 58 Sample Content Preview Keep satisfaction and gratitude with you in times of abundance and lack, and you’ll notice that things won’t seem as stressful as they once were. Practice Satisfaction Finally, like any mindset, you will need to practice it. Take the time each day to be satisfied, even if it is in regards to small things. Just focus on what you can be content about, what you are grateful for, and what you have enough off. If you can do it for small things, then you might be able to do it for bigger things as well. While practicing a mindset might seem a little silly, you can eventually call up feeling satisfied and grateful on command, which can be pretty powerful whenever you are facing lack and scarcity. Being able to center yourself with satisfaction is often enough to keep you from falling down a rabbit hole of feeling terrible when life starts to mess with you. After all, haven’t we been down that rabbit hole enough? And the whole reason you are reading this book to is ensure to live a satisfied life, and that means minimizing despair and seeing the positive in all aspects of life. Chapter 2: Learn The Difference Between Expectations and Wants Wants and Expectations might seem pretty similar on the surface, but there is a difference between them… like with satisfaction, it all comes back to your mindset. For example, let’s say you go to a new restaurant. You know nothing about it except for the smells coming from the kitchen and the name on the door, but you want a hamburger. On the other hand, what if you walked into the same burger place you’ve been to a thousand times and have the intention of ordering your favorite hamburger, made just the way you like it? In the first scenario, you didn’t know if the restaurant served burgers, you didn’t know if the place even had the type of hamburger you liked! You just knew you wanted a burger, but outside circumstances were going to determine if you received the burger. The second scenario had one thing different, you knew the hamburger was there, you just had to order it. There was no want, no doubt, no worry… you just had to walk to the counter and place the same order, and barring some act of God, you were going to get the burger. You expected it, and we can’t want what we expect. Expectation is as easy as breathing, we all know that as humans, if we breathe in and out we stay alive. We don’t even need to think about breathing because it is something that our bodies do naturally. We don’t ‘want’ to breathe or worry that one day the oxygen isn’t going to fulfill our needs. Instead, we know we will get what we need if we perform the action. Expectations are all well and good, but where does this tie into satisfaction? Turning Wants Into Expectations Can Lead To Satisfaction Troubles Whenever you were younger, did you ever hear adults tell you that something was a ‘privilege and not a right?’ Most of the time it might have had to do with electronics or some other reward, where you could have the reward as long as you followed certain rules, otherwise it would be taken away. Well, as adults, we seem to have the same lesson taught to us, only this time it has to deal with wants and expectations. Whenever we turn wants into expectations, particularly unrealistic expectations, we can lose out on being satisfied. For example, let’s take a promotion at your job as an example. Whatever your job might be, you might not be satisfied with it. You might want to make more money, get a promotion, do more important work and less busy work, or really show your boss that you are the best employee this company has ever had. These are things you want. You want more money, to be promoted, to do better work, to do well in the eyes of your boss, and these wants are good. They can motivate you to go above and beyond, communicate more, step into the shoes of a leader, and allow you to think more deeply about the work you do. The problem is whenever these wants turn into expectations. There’s a difference between wanting more money and expecting it, or wanting to have your name called for a promotion and expecting that promotion. Because whenever we don’t get what we want, we might be bummed and might use the disappointment to try better. When we don’t get what we expect, the emotions often turn to anger and resentment, like everything we should have got snatched away. So instead of trying to better ourselves and try harder, we feel anger towards the people or situation that took away what we deserve and what was rightfully ours. Losing Satisfaction From Lost Experiences Having our expectations denied can make us focus on the lack that we are experiencing, which ties us to the expectation. If you lose out on a promotion that you were expecting for instance, you might find that you are angry, you start being resentful towards your job and boss, and you might start doing things that will keep the promotion out of your grasp. This will certainly damage how satisfied we feel, because we are constantly focusing on the lack that we have. So how do you avoid this? How do you avoid making everything an expectation and getting tied to the outcome? Well, there are two things you can do. The first is to let go of the outcome, and the second is to search for proof. Letting out and having outcome independence is something most self development books will talk about in greater detail, but the main point is to focus on the journey and what you can control, and not on what you can’t. For example, in the case of a promotion, you can’t control who your boss will pick or what they will look for, but you can focus on being a good employee and showcasing promotable qualities. If you are promoted, great, but if you aren’t then you are at least being a good employee, which will have its own benefits for you down the line. With this, your satisfaction doesn’t hinge on something you can’t control, but rather the satisfaction of what you can control- such as a job well done. Or you can look for proof that validates your expectation. Going back to the hamburger example, you went to the restaurant that sells hamburgers and ordered the same burger that you have had several times over. You know the restaurant in question stocks your favorite, and you don’t need to worry about it. You have proof.

Table of Contents Introduction 6 Part 1: What Is the Metaverse? 7 Chapter 1: Understanding the Metaverse 9 Definition 10 Persistence 11 Implementation 12 Required technology 12 Chapter 2: The Metaverse Today 15 Video games 15 Virtual reality 16 Crypto 17 Chapter 3: Criticisms and Concerns 20 Privacy 20 Addiction 21 User safety 22 Social issues 24 Part 2: The Metaverse and the Future 27 Chapter 4: Emerging Technology 30 Extended reality technologies 30 Artificial Intelligence 32 Brain-computer interfaces 33 Chapter 5: How the Metaverse Will Transform the Future 36 Work 36 Remote Work 37 Health and Defense 37 How Things Are Built and Tested 38 Personal lives 38 Talking and Learning 39 Part 3: How to Use the Metaverse 42 Chapter 6: Enhance personal life 44 Gaming 44 Enhance social lives 45 Technology required 47 Chapter 7: Personalize Work and Education 49 Virtual workspaces 49 Online curriculums and virtual classrooms 50 Technology required 52 Chapter 8: Investment 54 Metaverse stocks 54 NFT investments 55 Virtual estates 56 Conclusion 59 Sample Content Preview Chapter 1: Understanding the Metaverse The desire and ability to go into a video game, virtual world, or even into the internet itself hasn‟t been anything new. From “Wreck-It-Ralph Breaks The Internet” to “Ready Player One”, we‟ve seen this trope in countless fiction mediums. The idea that the internet is a virtual world in it of itself, one where people can encounter one another, make interactions with themselves and the world, and even affect the real world with their choices in the digital one. If you think of it like a massively expanded virtual world, where players don‟t just control avatars on a screen with a mouse and keyboard, then you‟ve got the right idea. Instead, the person accessing the metaverse is their avatar, and they can move around, speak, and travel the virtual world as easily as they can in the real world. It will also connect the virtual world and the real world to make the pair closer than ever before. For example, have you ever seen in Science Fiction where a character might wear goggles that give them a heads up display of their surroundings? They can look at people and instantly gain access to public information about them, or do the same with buildings or items. With the metaverse, we might have that technology too. The Metaverse might seem a little confusing, but with a little bit of open mindedness and understanding, you‟ll know just what this place is, so let‟s start with a simple definition, shall we? Definition The Definition that most people can agree on is this one. The Metaverse is a set of virtual spaces where you can create and explore with other people who aren't in the same physical space as you. Think of it like a video game MMO world. In games like Final Fantasy or World of Warcraft, players from all over the world log into servers. Their avatars are visible in game, and they can interact with one another, participate in events, and even drive the game‟s economy. The Metaverse is going to be like that, only instead of going into a video game world, you would be logging into a world similar to our own. The Metaverse will be like one huge shopping mall, where you can log into different servers that are all owned by different companies. Imagine logging into Amazon‟s virtual world and ordering all your packages with simple gestures. You won‟t need to take out your phone, but instead put on a headset. Additionally, the Metaverse will be able to support your Avatars. Whether you want to buy real life items to put in your virtual room, or just have an avatar that reacts to your movements and body language, your virtual manifestation of your avatar will be just as important to the metaverse as the worlds you inhabit. Persistence Finally, the last major definition (one so important it needed its own subheading) is the word „Persistence.‟ Persistence in the metaverse refers to the continuity and sense of presence that you will feel in the virtual world. There will be several ways to connect to and experience the metaverse, from your phone, PC, Ipad, or VR headset, and the creators of the metaverse want to make sure that you feel like you and your Avatar matter in both of them. Persistence gives connections between the various „worlds‟ of the metaverse and is primarily experienced by avatars. For example, let‟s say your avatar gets a new pair of glasses from a VR shop in the virtual world. Then you hop off the virtual world and get into the metaverse on your phone. Your avatar will have the same glasses on, and no matter how you access the metaverse, the glasses will remain on. This persistence of a cosmetic item is an example of how persistence as a whole will work in the metaverse. Basically, if your Avatar buys something, makes a change to their look, or makes a change to their own personal world, those changes will show up no matter how you access the metaverse. Implementation Well, this all sounds well and cool, but how will it be implemented into the everyday consumer‟s life? Much like how you need to buy a VR headset from a certain company (Such as the Oculus Quest or the HP Reverve) to experience certain games and features, you will probably need to buy a headset or a system from the companies that will be getting into the Metaverse, including one from the company Facebook has created, appropriately called: Meta. Otherwise, it should be like any other online activity. You will need to create an account, customize an avatar, and then you can explore the worlds of your choosing. The theory goes that the metaverse should be quite unlimited, so once you get logged in you won‟t have too many limits on where you can go.

Sample Content Preview If you were told about someone who owned a candy company, you would automatically assume that they were not weird at all and were insanely happy just eating chocolate all day. This was not the case for Milton Hershey, who was actually a bit different and who did not always get along with people with whom he interacted. His unique vision for candy-making was not met with a lot of positive reactions and he had to return to his family farm and work on his recipe alone to get it right. This journey into embracing his own unique vision made him a success and he was able to craft the candy that would be the backbone for a vastly successful, multi-million-dollar company that is still around today. Being weird is not always a problem when you are a creative person and letting other people ruin your creative vision through doubt can just harm you in the long run. The story of how the Hershey Company came to be should show you how much you can benefit from sticking to your own personal goals and dreams in the face of derision and criticism. Creators who make new products and craft items that they are told cannot be made are almost always people who are considered to be weird. There is something in the social fabric that we weave that makes us want to identify people who go against the grain of the expectations of others as being odd or offbeat in dangerous ways. Being willing to struggle to create something that you can envision is a skill that weird people often have in spades and their fortitude over the years has led to hugely successful careers and the formation of wildly successful companies that are still around today. If you have been worried about being weird or different and how it might impact your ability to get a job you love or open a business, you need only look at the story of Milton Hershey and how he managed to overcome criticism and a lack of support to found one of the biggest companies that have ever made candy in the world. 2. Mark Zuckerberg While famous for many reasons these days, Mark Zuckerberg was a great example of a nerd who just could not quite fit in. While smart and successful in school, he was odd and not liked by his classmates overall. He struggled to make friends and get dates and his original idea for Facebook was to make sure that he could connect romantically with girls. He later expanded his idea to make sure that others who were socially awkward like him could find dates and connect in an easy way with girls that they struggled to talk to at school. The vast success of Facebook could be considered an accident, but he was at the center of the development process of the site all along and has made critical decisions along the way that indicate that he knows how the social structure of online life works rather well. Being a unique thinker who was not engaging successfully socially with others in his age group, he managed to make a website that would launch many people into social health in ways that they could never have managed without his help. Facebook is worth so much money these days that it should be no question to anyone that being odd and off-beat has delivered great results for Mark Zuckerberg. He is still unapologetically odd and has continued to stick to his own personal code that got him to the place that he is today. This has not always made him popular, but it has made him a huge success and that is what is more important. 3. Amy Schumer Amy Schumer has taken a lot of heat over the years for being off-beat and doing comedy that no one else does. She has been told over and over again that she could be much more successful if she would do mainstream comedy, lose weight and commit to living in Hollywood like a normal person in her shoes. She has never once given in to this pressure and has continued to be unapologetically herself for years. She is willing to make fun of herself as well as other people when she is on stage and many people see her as a hero for those who usually do not get a voice in the public eye. She has said many times that she could have been more successful over the years by changing who she was but that she loves to tackle the topics that no one else is talking about. Shedding light on social issues and the problems that women who are not thin and successful experience in life, she has made sure that she calls attention to the things that really matter. Some people might call her brash and harsh, but she has made sure that many people are aware of all kinds of social issues and concerns that others have been sweeping under the rug for years. While she might have been reviled as a comedian who is sticking her neck out too far at times, Schumer has made sure that she has stood for the right things many times over. She is a great voice for activism and women’s rights and she frequently points out that the average woman never gets her due, no matter that advertisers and other forms of media are supposedly talking to her and thinking about her on a daily basis.

Table of Contents Introductory ............................................. 4 Chapter 1: Getting Set for Distance Running ........................... 6 Chapter 2: Building Towards Distance Running ....................... 8 Chapter 3: Crossing Countries in Distance Running ............... 10 Chapter 4: Distance Running – Injuries And Errors ................ 12 Chapter 5: Distance Running - Random Tips ......................... 15 Chapter 6: Nutrition And Distance Running .......................... 18 Chapter 7: Positive Body Effects of Distance Running ........... 21 Sample Content Preview CHAPTER 1: GETTING SET FOR DISTANCE RUNNING Training is an essential part of every athlete’s life. It dictates how he will perform on the grand stage of the sporting event he has chosen. It doesn’t matter if you’re a ball player or a budding swimmer you have to pay your dues in training in order for your body to be readily equipped when the game proper is on. Distance running is an event that has been sweeping the globe in years. Many people have to come to love its events. Let’s take a look at how you can shoot your way into getting set for distance running. There are lots of things to consider when distance running is on the table. Aside for getting a trustworthy pair of running shoes, you should have your very own running log. You can place all the vital stats here as you monitor your progress and look for signs of improvement. The log sheet consists of daily time or distance, weight, your morning pulse, more importantly subjective records regarding your run. Your comments are very important because it can give you an idea of how you felt after or even before the run. The log is most helpful in terms of providing you with information that you can tap into when you start feeling some sort of pain. You can also figure out what’s wrong with your training so as to shift into better methods. Moving on, you have to think about your joints. Save them for the real thing. It’s not good that you get them strained way before you get into the real action of distance running. Although you have to prepare your body for the long distance to come in the running proper, you have to do this preparation without compromising your lower back and feet as well as your knees, ankles, and hips. The treadmill is the one tool you can rely on because it gives you less strain as supposed to the roads that you have to stride in the real world. It is important to avoid getting too much stress and the treadmill can do this while providing you with the sort of distance training for the real thing. You can make your treadmill work out more challenging by increasing the angle of incline gradually. Normally angles are set at three percent higher. Nature can sometimes put your training to a temporary halt but you don’t have to give so much of a fuss about it. All you need to do is adjust your schedule. Hot summer days can really take a toll on your hydration and overall performance. What you can do is mix it up. It’s like playing hide and seek with the sun. You can do your training before the sun can boastfully man the skies or you can go out in the late evenings so as to prevent your body from breaking down because of heat stroke. Another aspect to give emphasis on while preparing to run for the distance is the fact that you have to take little steps before going for the giant leaps. Start at the pace of training which really suits your body’s capacity and gradually employ changes over the weeks based on the stats that you have accumulated. This can save your body from injuries that can surely affect the length and quality of your training. Apart from the physical preparation that you have to make in getting set for distance running you also have to make sure that you are sharp mentally and emotionally. CHAPTER 2: BUILDING TOWARDS DISTANCE RUNNING Running can be both a fun-filled activity and also a serious event that can be life-altering. The distance you get to accomplish can be very rewarding both physically and psychologically. Runners often experience a certain kind of high after accomplishing a designated running time and distance. In order to become a successful runner especially for long distances you have to build on certain components that can boost your skills which will make you ready for the running proper. Let’s take a look at the basic components that you have to know in order to fully build your way towards distance running.

Sample Content Preview Health and Fitness You don’t have to limit yourself to just one of these categories. You can combine two or more of these niches. Make sure the individual niches align with one another. For instance, you can combine travel and lifestyle or beauty and fashion when you decide on your niche. It is not mandatory for you to stick to these established and well-known niches. The key to becoming an influencer is adding your unique voice to everything you do. So, don’t hesitate to experiment and carve your own niche that allows you to exhibit your strengths as well as your quirks. Or, if you can’t be bothered to do all that, you could always just go and arm-wrestle all the other influencers in your space. That shouldn’t take too long. Create a professional account on the platform that you want to use. Let's say that you want to use Instagram. The first thing you need to take care of is your bio. Creating an interesting and creative Instagram bio that grabs your audience’s attention should be a key priority for all brands and influencers. The best Instagram bios will showcase your brand’s personality, promote your business, and convince people to follow you. Use keywords for the name field If you click on Edit Profile, the first field you will find is Name. This is different from your Username, which forms your Instagram profile URL (https://instagram.com/username) and gives your profile page its brand name. The Name field, in fact, makes up the first 30 characters of your Instagram bio and is key to helping with Instagram SEO. When people search on Instagram, the words in the Name field are analyzed for matches. So if you want to rank well in searches from an Instagram SEO perspective, it is crucial you use keywords relevant to your niche in the Name section (not necessarily your business name, as the title suggests). Emojis can also be searched for, and so should also feature in the Name field if appropriate. An Instagram bio has to make an impact on your audience. It has to tell people what your business is, what you do, and why they need you. It also has to convince people to not only follow you but to also complete a particular task of your choosing (like visiting your website). And as you are only allowed 150 characters for your bio (plus the 30 characters for your Instagram Name) this is not an easy task! Using emojis in your Instagram bio will give your profile a visually fresh and fun feel while helping your brand stand out from the crowd. Emojis also take up less space than words, enabling you to add extra info about your brand that the character count wouldn’t allow for with text. Now for the fun part! This is your chance to get creative. Create interesting videos for your audience that is helpful and attention grabbing. Think outside the box for an original idea that hasn't been created before. For example, "Eating at the Worst Reviewed Restaurant", "Blindfolded Makeup Challenge", "Boyfriend Rates My Outfits" were all creative ideas that youtubers came up with to entertain their audience without involving click bait. This will get you the right type of attention that can lead to your audience subscribing to your channel and sharing it on social media. An effective way to ensure that your content garners traction is to create content that your audience wants. In order to get relevant content ideas, you can run a quick Google search for your niche. Scroll down to the bottom of search results to find the long-tail keywords that are being used by your target audience. You can also search platforms such as Quora and Reddit to get an idea of what your target audience is talking about. If you want your content to strike a chord with your audience, you must have a deep understanding of your follower community. Most social media platforms have an analytics section that can give you meaningful insights about your target audience. You get access to audience demographics data such as gender, geographic location, occupation, online behavior, etc. In addition, you should pay close attention to the comments section of your social media and blog posts. It can be a goldmine of fresh content ideas that your audience wants to read/watch. You can also conduct social media polls and ask your followers to tell you all about their preferences and pain points. Publishing high-quality content on a regular basis is one of the most effective ways to retain your audience’s attention. When you deliver good content on a regular basis, it creates a sense of anticipation among your audience. That, in turn, boosts audience engagement and increases your reach. It is advisable that you create a timeline for all of the content you plan on publishing in the next few months. You can also create a weekly or monthly series to keep your audience hooked.

Sample Content Preview More Benefits of Exercise The benefits above are general. Let’s examine the more specific benefits of exercise on specific parts of the body, as described by Goldberg and Elliot: - Exercise prevents heart disease The average ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) is about 4.5. If this ratio doubles or reaches 7, you double your chances of developing coronary heart disease. You reduce that risk by as much as 50% if your ratio is 3 or lower. The lowdown on cholesterol: not all cholesterol is bad. You have the good one (HDL-1 and HDL-2), the not so bad one (VLDL) and the harmful one (LDL). To get your ratios, divide the total amount of your cholesterol by your amount of HDL. The lower the ratio you have, the better. - Exercise prevents osteoporosis 28 MILLION AMERICANS HAVE OSTEOPOROSIS. 80% ARE WOMEN. ONLY ¼ OF THIS 80% KNOW THEY HAVE THE CONDITION AND ONLY HALF ARE BEING TREATED. THE ANNUAL OSTEOPOROSIS BILL TO THE UNITED STATES IS $14 BILLION. STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT SUFFICIENT AMOUNTS OF CALCIUM AND REGULAR EXERCISE BUILD STRONG BONES. WHILE GENETICS PLAY A MAJOR ROLE IN DEVELOPING THE RISKS OF OSTEOPOROSIS, INDIVIDUALS CAN CONTROL SOME FACTORS THAT WILL HELP PREVENT THE PROBLEM. PEAK BONE MASS IS ATTAINED IN YOUR 20’S. STARTING AN EXERCISE PROGRAM WHILE STILL YOUNG, EVEN IF YOU LIVE IN THE FAST LANE, WILL HELP YOU AVOID BONE DISEASE. - Exercise prevents diabetes People are still debating how much exercise an individual needs, but for people with type 2 diabetes, exercising three or more times a week improves fitness and blood sugar levels. If you have type 2 diabetes and are overweight, exercise done with the following parameters would be of tremendous benefit: intensity of 60%-70% maximal heart rate, with duration of 30 or more minutes, 4-7 days each week. There have been hundreds of documented reports that reveal how people’s lives have significantly improved and the remarkable transformation that their bodies experience after they made the decision to take ownership of their weight and fat problems. In fact, Diane Rinehart (former Toronto magazine editor and writer) wrote in the Montreal Gazette on December 12, 2005: “What we’re hearing about…is waiting times in emergency and operating rooms for ailments such as hip replacements, heart surgery and amputations. That’s a shame because the fact is, if we dealt with obesity, we wouldn’t be facing the epidemics of heart disease, stroke, arthritis and diabetes that clog our hospital waiting rooms and OR’s.” SECTION 2: HOW TO INCLUDE EXERCISE Feeling overwhelmed by the amount of time your friends and colleagues spend in the gym? Turned off by the idea of a tennis game that entails not only the hour-long match but also getting to the tennis club, changing into a tennis outfit and then showering afterwards? YOU THINK, “THAT’S ALMOST 3 HOURS – THREE HOURS I COULD DEVOTE TO NURTURING MY CLIENTS AND EXPANDING MY SALES TERRITORY.” THE BAD NEWS IS, BEING PENNY WISE AND POUND FOOLISH DOES NOT WORK IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, ESPECIALLY WHERE FITNESS AND HEALTH ARE CONCERNED. ARE THOSE THREE HOURS WORTH SKIPPING DURING A GIVEN WEEK WHEN YOU KNOW THAT YEARS OF OPTIMUM HEALTH CAN BE YOURS IF YOU HAD A POSITIVE ATTITUDE ACCOMPANIED BY REASONABLE DOSES OF DISCIPLINE?

Sample Content Preview THE IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING YOUR MIND SHARP AS YOU AGE It’s normal to experience changes in your brain throughout your life. As you go through middle age and beyond, your brain will slowly shrink. This is all completely normal and while it sounds frightening, you don’t have to be scared. With the right plan, you can - if you work on it - actually grow your brain even if it’s already started shrinking. Keep Your Independence Longer If you can take care of yourself and remember to pay your bills, turn off the stove, and that type of thing, you will be able to be independent a lot longer than if you can’t do those things. Working on improving your memory and brain function now, even if you have no mental or cognitive decline at all, will ensure that you will put it off even longer. Ward off Dementia Even though a large percentage of people over 70 have some form of dementia, you can certainly lessen the effects by working on your mental and physical health. Eating right, keeping your mind sharp by reading, doing new things, and living an active life is your best defense against any illness and costs less than medical intervention. Improve Your Memory Being able to remember to take your meds, or even remember what day it is, is an important factor in being able to live on your own. If you cannot remember what day it is, it’s hard to remember to pay your light bill or buy the right amount of food to eat. Don’t worry, though; even if you have a hard time remembering things now, you can learn methods to make it easier. Experience Better Health in General Taking care of your brain health will naturally rub off into creating a situation where your entire body is healthier. The main reason is that the same thing that keeps your brain healthy will maintain your general health. Eating right, drinking plenty of water, getting exercise, resting, and reducing stress are good for you all the way around. Enjoy Your Retirement More When you can be independent, remember your scheduled evening out with friends, and remember to pay your bills, you will obviously enjoy your retirement more. It's more pleasurable if you’re healthy and your mind is sharp. You’ll have a lot more fun because you will be free of other worries once you retire, and you’re likely to earn more money longer due to having a sharp mind. Keeping your mind sharp pays off in more than one way. Being independent as long as humanly possible is also a massive benefit to the rest of your family. The less your family worries about you, the more independent you can be, for longer. It’s a lot less expensive for you to stay independent. So, let's move on to look at things you can do to make your life better and to keep your mind sharp as you age. EAT RIGHT AND KEEP MOVING When it comes to your general health, there is not a much more effective plan than to eat right and to keep moving. The eating component is a lot more important than doing any type of planned exercise but adding in daily walking or other types of exercise will make it all that much more effective. Eat Right and Mind Your Diet It sounds simple to eat right, but with all the fad diets and questionable plans out there, the best thing you can do is just to eat right for your needs. No matter what type of diet you go on, eating fresh local produce is better for you than any other type of food. Try making half your plate veggies and a fourth of it fruit, and you will automatically feel healthier. Your mind will become sharper too. The reason is that your brain needs glucose to work best, and the easiest way to use glucose in a healthy way is from fresh produce like fruit and veggies.

Sample Content Preview There are countless productivity tools both digital and non-digital. If you want to be productive and make sure you are on track for all your work tasks, you need to make sure you are making use of them. If you aren’t tech-savvy, you can use written organizational methods like planners and desk calendars. These work great for people that like to handwrite things rather than typing them onto a computer. Just make sure to bring your planner with you when you are at work or when you are making appointments. If you are using non-digital tools, you might also want to use colorful pens or sticky notes to organize. You can also differentiate between work, school, and personal tasks by using different colors. For those who are in the digital world for work or personal hobbies, you might find it easier to just keep everything digital since you almost always have your computer on hand. Your computer, smartphone, and tablet all have great productivity and organizational tools. Most of them are free, so you can make sure of them easily. Same as with non-digital tools, you need a calendar to keep track of your tasks. The great thing about going digital is that you can sync them altogether from one device to another. This allows you to access your calendar from your phone, smartwatch, computer, and tablet. If you have separate digital devices for work, you can also keep them separate by only syncing work devices to the other work devices. This allows you to keep a line between work and your personal life which can greatly increase productivity. 3. Don’t Resist Change One main reason people can’t become productive is that they are reluctant to change things in their life. Changing a routine, a job, or many other things in life can be hard because it means letting go and stepping out of your comfort zone. If you are having trouble with productivity though, something in your life needs to change so that you can start new habits. If you are afraid of doing a complete overhaul of your life, that’s perfectly okay and it’s a normal feeling to have. Try only changing one thing at a time. Once you feel comfortable with the change, you can move on to another thing. You can also start with a small change first to ease into your new way of life. 4. Take Breaks Throughout the Day Breaks are needed every time you are working so that you can regain focus and keep your energy up. Breaks aren’t just needed for work though. If you are at home doing a project or practicing a hobby, you also need to take breaks. One method people enjoy using is the Pomodoro method. It has been shown to work well for many people as it gives you defined work periods and clear rest periods. This allows you to have a set schedule for your work and playtime. Break time can also be done with a friend or coworker to make it more fun. Try to do something with movement during your break, such as getting up to stretch or walking around the office. You can also take this time to do a quick refill like drinking a coffee or eating a protein snack. This allows you to have plenty of time for relaxing and recharging. If you don’t want to follow the Pomodoro method, you can always just take breaks as you finish tasks. For long tasks though, you might need to break them up into sections to make sure you are not rushing through them. 5. Do the Hardest Tasks First As the day goes on and you are nearing the time to go home, you might become less and less productive. For this reason, it’s recommended you do the hardest tasks in the morning when you have the full day ahead of you and you are feeling the most productive. You might also want to do the task you dread the most at the beginning of the day. This allows you to get it over with and it also gives you a sense of accomplishment to carry with you the rest of the day as you are completing more things on your to-do list.

Sample Content Preview Don’t let the unprofessionalism take over when you do Skype or Zoom. Pretend that you are in the office. Check that the volume and the lighting look good before you even try to begin and be aware of some of the background that is behind you. Clean up the area around you, or the whole office preferably, to ensure that no one is going to see a big mess when they look at the screen. The outfit that you wear is going to be important too. You need to take off the sweatpants and bad shirts that you are wearing and put on something professional. It is fine if you dress down to do your work most of the time since no one is going to see you. But with a networking event, others will see you, and you need to make sure they are impressed. In networking, first impressions are going to be a big deal so make sure you dress up like you are showing up to the office for those video calls. Before any meeting, take the time to look around the room. Notice if there is any mess behind you that you need to worry about. It is best to clean up the whole room if possible just in case you need to move the computer screen around at all. Look for anything that is embarrassing, unprofessional, or just a big mess. If you are short on time, then you can consider just cleaning up the area that is immediately around you and then be careful not to move around a lot while you are talking to some of your contacts. Then it is time to move on to some of the clothes that you wear. It may be acceptable to show up in your pajamas when you work remotely, but this is not going to look good for some of your contacts when networking. Bring out a nice shirt and pants and look like you are going to an interview along the way. This gives off a better impression and makes it look like you are more of a professional while you network. Networking is Not Just About You The next mistake that people will make with all sorts of networking, whether they are doing it in-person or virtually, is that they forget that it is not just about them. Networking is something that needs to prove beneficial to both parties and not just to you. The second that it becomes all about you is the second that contact is going to lose interest and will decide not to work with you on it at all. This is a new relationship that needs to be beneficial to both parties. It is easy to get caught up a bit in the self-promotion, which makes it easy to forget all about the true meaning of networking. In networking, you want to focus on helping one another out. But it is easy to forget this, which makes it harder to form some of the long lasting connections that you want along the way. Forgetting Your Existing Contacts It is exciting when it comes to networking to see how many people you can gather up into the network that you want to form. You want to meet new people, make some new connections, and see how all of this can go. And that is an admirable trait to have. But you need to remember some of your current contacts as well, or you may find that your list gets smaller and smaller all the time. Networking isn’t just about you seeing how many new connections you can get. It is also not just about contacting others when you need something. If this is the way that you treat your network, you will soon find that you do not have much of a network. There is so much more that comes with networking than that. So, do not just focus on the new connections and do not fall into the habit of reaching out to someone only when you need something from them. You need to maintain some contacts the whole time. Think about when you can reach out to your current contacts and even set some reminders to help you remember when to talk to an existing contact again. It is perfectly fine to start a conversation just to catch up. Ask how they are doing, what is new, and what you can do to help them. You may have no reason to contact them at the time, but it will make that contact feel good. Nobody wants to be contacted just to hear a sales pitch. If you have meaningful conversations with that person, you will find that when you do want something, they are more willing and open to help Send the Message Too many times someone will send a connect request on LinkedIn or another site in the hopes of increasing some of the reach that they have online. But this is not going to work and often looks like spam. Think back to how many times this has happened to you in the past. Did you actually respond to the request? If you did not know who the person well, you probably ignored it and that is what others are going to do to you in this same situation. If you are sending out a connection request to someone else, then you need to make sure to send along a message as well. And do not use a canned message that sounds like spam. Make this a personalized message that is going to get you noticed. This needs to happen with each and every connection request that you have. And the less that you know the person, the more time and thought you will need to put into the message that you would like to send to them.