Helping Educators Protect Children – Why Internet Monitoring is Needed

The number of children who use the Internet is soaring. Currently more than 30 million kids under the age of 18 use the Internet. That represents nearly half of the children living in the United States. 14 million children access the information highway from school, a figure that is expected to increase to 44 million by 2003. Also by that year, we believe more students will access the Internet from the classroom than from home according to the Consortium of School Networking.Over the last decade, while the numbers of people who use the Internet grew, the Internet, and what it is used for, has changed as well. It is no longer a community of scientists and academics. Now, anyone can publish whatever he or she wants on a web site and have an instant worldwide audience. While the World Wide Web opens up a world of information, entertainment, and social interaction to kids, it also gives them access to some very unfriendly information. Today there are nearly 7 million pornography sites on the web and that number increases by the day. Children unwittingly plug an innocuous word into a search engine and not only does the information they seek pop up, but often, so do porn sites, and sites with topics devoted to bomb-making, weaponry, gambling, and drugs. Just like the World Wide Web, if we consider it an entity, does not know the ages of the people who surf it, inappropriate email does not know the age of its addressee, and it shows up in everyone’s email box. Worst of all, the Internet makes it possible for the worst sort of predator, the pedophile, to creep into our schools and homes.Organizations ranging from schools and hospitals to churches and businesses now rely on the Internet for access to information. It also provides instantaneous access to vendors, suppliers, sales, customer service and more. But with the good, comes some bad. Along with all the vital information that flows across the web, there is also content that is at best inappropriate and at worst illegal. Educators who fail to protect their students from some of this easily obtainable material face a host of problems, including legal liability (last year employees at a public library in Minneapolis filed suit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) saying that exposure to porn due to patron surfing constituted a hostile work environment) negative publicity, wasted money due to nonproductive use of equipment (excess lines, routers, disk storage and printers, unreliable or slow connections, etc.), and, of course, the human costs, which are incalculable.Our children are our most precious and vulnerable citizens and they are at risk. But the risk is nott necessarily where we as parents and educators think it is. Law enforcement officers who deal with the growing problem of cyber crime report that web content is one problem, but major criminal activity is taking place in chat rooms, instant messaging applications, and in email. These modes of communication have given predators or pedophiles access to online playgrounds where they find children to virtually, and potentially literally, molest. The Internet has provided these criminals with a means of communicating with millions of children. The fact that they have anonymity means that they are free to pose as anyone they want to.The problem is larger than we think. Consider that one Midwestern city with a population of 190,000 has 270 registered sex offenders. This is one small city. When a cyber crime enforcement agent in that city recently logged into a chat room posing as a 13-year-old girl, he had ten men wanting to talk sexually with her within 5 minutes!I. An Overview of the Children’s Internet Protection ActThe Children’s Internet Protection Act was signed into law in December of 2000. The law became effective in April of last year. CIPA mandates the use of blocking, filtering or monitoring technology on computers in public libraries and schools receiving E-rate telecomm discounts or Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) or Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) funds to filter harmful to minors material. The law has not been universally praised. Organizations ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to the American Library Association (ALA) have filed suits with the goal of overturning the law.The ALA believes the legislation is unconstitutional because it limits access to constitutionally protected information that is available on the Internet at public libraries. The bill, introduced by Senator John McCain, the republican from Arizona, requires libraries to adopt acceptable use policies accompanied by technology that would block access to material harmful to minors.This is obviously a very controversial issue. At one recent hearing about the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), a hearing that took place in California, one ALA representative testified that ALA members routinely review books and other material, including videos, music and magazines in order to determine which material is appropriate for their readers. They essentially filter material before it is placed on library shelves. And if it is deemed inappropriate, they block it. At this hearing, a COPA commissioner asked why the ALA does not want to do the same thing for information on the Internet. The only reply from the ALA representative: the information is different. Different is certainly one way to see it!My question for you is: why should information that is available on the Internet be subject to less strict control than books or magazines or music or video? The material that is published on paper, whether in books or magazines or appears in video form, is scrutinized very carefully, and federal and state laws mandate that minors be prevented from obtaining some of this material. Why should information on the Internet be treated any differently? Why should we allow our children access to such material because it is different? We are not talking about book burning; we are simply questioning the controls in place for this new and easily accessible information source.I believe that CIPA, COPA and COPPA, along with all the other acts proposed, or those that are already law, have not gone far enough. Our children are not adequately protected. And it is our job to address the issues that affect our children. We have a moral obligation to our future generations to protect them. In our society children mature sooner because of the myriad of instant communications available, unmonitored communication has contributed to the loss of innocence. We must protect our children, and not give the only voice on this subject to those who believe the right to free speech is more important than safety.II. A Look at the History of Content ControlsIn the mid-1990s, reports of the negative experiences that children were having on the Internet began to make headlines. At the 1994 Fall Comdex meeting, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Interactive Services Association issued Child Safety on the Information Highway, the first statement suggesting that parents should monitor their childrren internet activities. As any parent knows, Do’s and Don’ts lists simply do not work. Kids are curious, and whether intentionally or accidentally, will find their way to inappropriate material. If we also consider that an estimated 5 million new or renamed websites are put up every week, it’s easy to understand why it seems impossible to protect ourselves and our children from potentially destructive material. Another approach, limiting access by rating internet content thereby preventing children from accessing harmful content the way that movie theaters prevent children under age 17 from buying tickets to R rated movies has been ineffectual. Only about 150,000 websites, out of the hundreds of millions of web sites, have registered to rate themselves.Several years ago, in response to concerns from the public, from parents, from educators, and from law-enforcement officers, congress and advocacy groups began to look for ways that the government could control children access to harmful material, a movement that culminated in the Communications Decency Act, an amendment to the Telecommunications Act of 1996.At the same time that the ratings debate waged, companies began to develop filtering and monitoring software products. In 1996 there were just a few; by 1997 there were about 3 dozen and last year, there were more than 100 on the market. There are a variety of products available. Most rely on lists of URLs and then block access to sites that appear to contain pornographic material. If a user attempts to go to such a site, the user receives a message stating that access to this specific site is prohibited. Other applications filter the information on the Internet and look for keywords that indicate the site may contain material that is inappropriate for children. Essentially, the URL blocker blocks the entire site while the filter allows access to the site, but filters out the information that is inappropriate. Opponents say that these approaches overblock content, filtering out references to breast cancer, and to researchers who hold magna cum laude honors, and so on.Most recently, several products that monitor user activities have been offered to the public. These applications do not block or filter, but rather promote the organization Acceptable Use Policy and monitor the computer user activities. If the user violates the organization Acceptable Use Policy by accessing pornographic or other inappropriate material, the systems administrator or other assigned person is notified. This approach is becoming increasingly popular because when an organization posts its Acceptable Use Policy, and its users know their computer use is being monitored, it puts the responsibility back in the user hands. In other words, if a user knows the Acceptable Use Policy, and he or she chooses to violate the policy, then presumably he or she is willing to suffer the consequences.III. The Consortium for School NetworkingIn order to help schools understand the far-reaching on-line safety issues and comply with the Children’s Internet Protection Act, the Consortium for School Networking is providing updated resources related to Internet safety. At http://www.safewiredschools.org, school leaders and parents can find a downloadable PowerPoint presentation on factors they must consider for Internet protection. There is also a detailed compliance guide covering all of the requirements of CIPA legislation.According to the CoSN, when a school decides to manage or monitor the content that their students can access via the Internet, they will need to consider a variety of issues. Among them: Local community and international standards, for the www is an international entity that knows no boundaries, the culture of the school district, the degrees of control that teachers and administrators want to retain, the extent to which teachers and other officials wish to be involved on an ongoing basis, and cost. School administrators will also have to decide whether rules will vary according to children’s ages.Among the approaches that the CoSN outlines in its briefing:1. Acceptable Use Policies. Whether or not a school ultimately decides to use a filtering, monitoring or blocking application, it should still have an Acceptable Use Policy which children are aware of before they go online. The National Center for Educational Statistics reported in May of 2001 that 98 percent of schools with Internet access had an Acceptable Use Policy in place. Typically a student and his or her parents will be asked to sign off on the policy at the beginning of the school year. The policy should spell out the consequences a student (or staff member) will face if the policy is violated.2. Monitoring. School districts may opt to take the approach in which they gives students unlimited access, but monitor the sites that individual students (and staff) have accessed. This gives an administrator the opportunity to respond to a student/staff member who is spending too much time on sites that are obviously not school-related.3. Blocking/Filtering. Filtering means allowing access to a restricted number of web sites. Access is either limited to a specific list of approved sites, or access is blocks to sites that are considered off limits. Someone ultimately has to decide which sites will be included on the list. Some teachers and school officials may want to retain complete control over that, but others will opt to have a third party manage the process for them.4. Proxy Servers. Some school districts decide to install filtering software on the district proxy server. It can also be used as a firewall, providing protection from viruses as well as access by hackers and other outsiders.5. Application Service Providers. This is a relatively new option, whereby a school district hires a company to manage the school’s computer applications from the company’s own servers.6. Filtered Internet Access. Many Internet service providers that market to schools and families have adopted content controls of their own. Users can then decide whether or not to use the controls.7. Portals and Search Engines. There are a growing number of search engines and portals aimed at the education market. In some cases the school can configure their system to go straight to that portal or search engine. Administrators will need to carefully consider how restrictive these portals actually are, and whether they allow children to access inappropriate sites though back door methods.8. Green spaces. Proprietary networks or Intranets designed for children are sometimes referred to as green spaces. They are designed to create closed spaces where children can roam freely among content that has been deemed appropriate for them. Generally speaking, they provide access to a relatively small number of sites.IV. The Problems Posed by the Internet TodayAs is the Internet itself, the tools and solutions we have at our disposal for managing and monitoring content are constantly evolving. Sadly, so are the methods of Internet users and the abusers who prey on children. Blocking and filtering have historically offered adequate protection for our children, but that is no longer reality.Access to inappropriate information on the Internet is now roughly 25% of the problem. The other 75% of the problem is the material that arrives via chat rooms, instant messaging, email and attachments. Adults whose objective is to do harm to unsuspecting children know that they can find them by way of these seemingly innocuous methods. Predators use email and attachments, instant messaging, and chats to obtain personal information, to send sexually harassing and hate documents; they even use applications such as Word or Notepad to write and send such material. Children unwittingly transport this information via floppy disks and CDs that can be viewed in the classroom. Or they develop personal web sites at home, sites that contain explicit or disallowed material that can be accessed from school. These new problems demand new solutions that can address the full spectrum of problems.V. What the Future Holds: Filtering, Blocking and Monitoring Tools Available to Educators and Parents TodayAs technology changes so must our concepts of the problems created by such changes. The World Wide Web is growing exponentially and is a resource that gives any user access to ANY information, and provides the opportunity for any user to communicate with anyone, anywhere, anytime. Regardless of who is checking or how they are checking content, the main problem still exists. The Internet is an instant visual communication tool that has a dark underbelly. Teachers and parents must be made aware of all the dangers, not just those which exist with web content but that which is present in the chat rooms, instant messaging, e-mail, attachments and applications. We need the tools that will allow us to prevent people with evil intent from gaining access to our children and doing them harm.

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Opportunities for Africa to Deepen Financial Inclusion and Development

When people can participate in the financial systems, they are better able to start and expand businesses, invest in their children’s education, and absorb financial shocks.Sub-Saharan Africa has a population with most lives being at the economic downstream, and most likely underdeveloped. The financial inclusion gender gap and income gap persisting just like in other continents, though higher in Sub-Saharan Africa. World Population estimates based on the latest estimates released on June 21, 2017, by the United Nations, shows Africa continues as the second largest continent with a population of 1,256,268,025 (16% of the population of the world) and by the end of January 2018, 40.2% living in urban areas.The continent has the highest fertility rate of 4.7% (Oceania 2.4%, Asia 2.2%, Latin American and Caribbean 2.1%, Northern America 1.9% and Europe 1.6%) compared to the other continents with a yearly population rate change (increase) of 2.55% – the highest among all continents. Most of its people (59.8%) have lived downstream (rural areas and villages) sometimes out of the mainstream economy. Policy targeting could be difficult in such scenarios, and identifying people who lack access to financial and economic inclusion comes with a huge financial cost in itself, though the benefit in doing so outweighs the cost in mere numbers and requires commitment from leaders and managers of the respective economies. Coupled with a universal phenomenon of non-perfect, untrusted, and in some cases non-existing data on the continent, that could make decision making imperfect and data unreliable, affecting plans, policies and the potencies to resolve stated challenges or improving the economic and social fibre of countries.The struggles of the financially excluded come from barriers and reasons as access, social and cultural factors, income, education and many possible lists of others. Financial exclusion arguably is one of the reasons some economic policies lack potency to effectively target well on the citizenry with its results in persistent poverty and inequality. Lack of access to basic needs like an account either at the bank or mobile money could mean significant possibilities of opportunities untapped. Globally countries have realized the importance of achieving inclusive societies and supports efforts at maximizing financial inclusion. Sub- Saharan Africa has made some strides over the years in financial and economic inclusion in this regard at individual country levels.Efforts ongoing in Ghana include a commitment to promoting and prioritizing financial inclusion. The country made specific and concrete commitments to further advance financial inclusion under the “Maya Declaration“ since 2012 and has an ambitious target of achieving 75% Universal financial inclusiveness of its adult population by 2020. Ghana currently has 58% of its adult population having access to financial services and is also finalizing its National Financial Inclusion Strategy which will become the guiding document and reference for inclusive actions, stakeholder roles and responsibilities spelt out for all.Kenya, however, has earned global recognition in leading the all others in the world in mobile money account penetration, and with twelve other sub-Saharan African Countries following, researchers show. The rate at which African countries are projecting innovation technology for digital financial inclusion is impressive. The country has made giant strides in its financial inclusion commitments, especially under the Maya Declaration.There has been some paradigm shift in Information and Communication Technology and its importance which is being considered as a factor of economic growth. ICT has the ability to provide services with minimal cost, improve innovation, and provide infrastructure for convenient and easy to use services, it can also provide a route to access many auxiliary financial services.At the macro level, digital innovation influence economic development and economic policy effectiveness.The benefits ICT enabled financial services include the possible creation of employment- mobile money vendors, increases in revenue receipts of government, helps firms productivity (both private and public), aid in cost control and efficiencies, and Could contribute to rural development and governance: Governance and revenue mobilization efforts, especially at local government levels, can be enhanced through ICT which aids in overall improvement in corporate governance. Importantly, Innovation Technology can help in the deepening of financial inclusion either through access, usage, reducing risk and improving quality of services, thus, per formula for Financial Inclusion (FI), thus, FI = (Unlocking Access + Unlocking Usage + Quality) – Risk.Access to financial services can generate economic activities-Sophisticated use of financial services even presents bigger economic and social possibilities for the included. In Mexico, a research by Bruhn and Love revealed that, there were huge impacts in the economy in Mexico, that is, 7% increase in all income levels (in the local community) when Banco Azteca had rapid openings of branches in over a thousand Grupo Elektra retail stores when compared to other communities that branches were not opened. Also the savings proportion by those households in the local community reduced by 6.6%, a situation attributed to the fact that households were able to rely less on savings as a buffer against income fluctuation when formal credit became available.Here, it must be noted that through savings is encouraged, the reduction in savings by 6.6% means more funds can rather be channeled for investments into economically viable entities or services. As the cycle continues, and in sophisticated use of financial services along the financial services value chain, they will need to save however for other investments later. Similar or even more positive correlation is observed if the medium of access and usage is through innovative technology.Using Digital Financial Inclusion Strategies in Humanitarian ServicesDespite the use and usefulness of financial services in crises situations, financial exclusion is particularly acute among crisis-affected countries. 75% of adults living in countries with humanitarian crises remains outside of the formal financial system and struggle to respond to shocks and emergencies, build up productive assets, and invest in health, education, and business.Researchers continue to show the growth in acceptance of electronic payments especially through the use of mobile phones. There is growing evidence supporting digital financial inclusion. GSMA in its reports revealed that there were 93 countries between the periods of 2006-2016 of with 271 mobile money operating service providers which had registered over 400 million accounts globally. They give some evidence in some countries – which have been receiving humanitarian assistance- where there is growing acceptance of digital financial inclusion through use of a phone.In Rwanda significant numbers of refugees used phones for mobile money services whiles some do so commercially for service fees. In Uganda, Refugee communities are noted for use of mobile money service as per the report. This has necessitated MNO Orange Uganda, a telecommunication firm to expand mobile money service to refugee communities by building a communication tower to improve access and usage of the services. In Pakistan, one of the largest refugee communities- third largest- has the government using mobile money for cash transfers to refugees. The evidence abounds and this calls for humanitarian agencies to rethink and reconsider digital inclusive financial services beyond the current numbers. In Lebanon (The largest refugee community) those on humanitarian assistance uses ATM issued by aid organizations to access their cash transfers.Sarah Bailey, however, observed that humanitarian areas that were receiving cash transfers through mobile money could increase the use of certain services but does not automatically lead to widespread or sustained uptake. People may prefer to continue using informal financial systems that are more familiar, accessible and profitable. Her study revealed that that, the provision of humanitarian e-transfers, even when combined with training, was not sufficient to enable the vast majority of participants to conduct mobile money transactions independently.The findings are certainly acceptable in the short run per our knowledge. However, on a long-term basis and with financial capability activities – not just training- the results could possibly be different. Financial capability activities deal with not just training and education, but the overall financial health and well-being of the people. And this should be done in a hierarchy- bits-by-bits- and not at a one leap jump approach. This seems to have been echoed by the United Nations. According to Ban Ki-moon as cited in advised that we must return our focus to the people at the centre of these crises, moving beyond short-term, supply-driven response efforts towards demand-driven outcomes that reduce need and vulnerability. Financial inclusion strategies may not lead to widespread uptake within a few days, but evidence abounds that in a long-term, it could.The thirteen countries in the world with the most mobile money penetration today had some being on humanitarian support just a few years back-. Sustained access and use of innovative technology for inclusion then would have a better impact on them the more today.Undertaking a case study on the use of digital means for humanitarian transfer will show that in the short term run there may be lack of interest or even rejection. Coupled with regulatory barriers and other barriers mentioned, people during a humanitarian crisis may not really be thinking much of connecting to the economic system on the whole or how their support comes (This is the business of policymakers on humanitarian service) but rather be much interested in survival within a short run. The psychology of that period of need is centred on – What is needed is the urgency of support – money – physical cash in most cases to enable them to get the basics of security and food with the most liquid instrument. Humanitarian communities have needs just as all other communities within the financial services need a framework.Indeed evidence suggests there have been few instances only worldwide where the use of digital transfers in humanitarian transfers has led to widespread use of services. Digital transfers in humanitarian services must be a process and done within the particular context of time. In this sense, the digital strategies must be humanitarian, and must embed in the social and behavioural change financial capability activities capable of two-way communications with practices on usage and the benefits it brings in the long term- It must be in a hierarchy. Simple financial needs should be met before sophisticated needs. Any deviation will of course results in lack of interest in the services.Howard Thomas observed that “Financial technology still leaves out swathes of people, and this means missed opportunities for development,” And in some cases, community structures may not be innovative or agile enough to allow new technologies to spread, he adds. “Savvy entrepreneurs are not necessarily from established authorities. Sometimes it’s a matter of identifying individual leaders, networks or pathways through which to promote new technologies.”Indeed there have been some lessons however on how to manage humanitarian remittance, the parameters, however, are that financial inclusion is a continuous and sustaining effort of providing access and usage of financial services in a sustaining and responsible manner which meets the needs within a reduced risk – it is not just one time project of implementation policies at speed but rather concentrate on meeting the basic before sophisticated needs. Within a humanitarian certain, a complex multiplicity of issues may serve as barriers to using digital financial services including location and urgent needs; however those barriers when managed within a considerable period and coupled with financial capability activities (the act of complete financial well-being), then favourable results would be achieved.The use of behavioural change financial capability education, training and practice into humanitarian communication on digital transfers would help in improvement in the uphill acceptance over a period of time. sub-Saharan African countries have been realizing some tremendous gains in the use of innovative technology, and expansion of ICT services and infrastructure on the continent. Its study time past points out those countries on the continent totally made revenues amounting to 5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from telecommunication related services as compared to European countries where revenues from the telecommunication services represented 2.9% of their total GDP.Sub-Africans Countries need repositioning and further investment in the “digital economy” in order to open up and benefit fully inclusiveness of their economy. Here our interest is in mobile technology and innovation which is the critical avenue that Africa could use mostly in achieving financial inclusion within the short to long term.Kenya is making giant strides and leading the way in digital innovation for mobile financial services globally. Researchers have shown that sub-Sahara Africa countries are leading the technological innovation drive in the usage of mobile financial services.Kenya and other Sub-Saharan African nations are making the greatest strides in mobile money accounts penetration and with lots of opportunities foreseen. Globally the thirteen countries that mobile account penetration has been over 10 %, all 13 are from Africa -Botswana, Cote d’ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Kenya, Somalia, Rwanda, Namibia, Tanzania, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe (ranging from 10%-58% for the 13 countries).Kenya is leading at 58% mobile money account penetration, with Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda “following closely” reporting around 35%. Namibia out of 13 countries has the least of mobile money penetration of about 10% (still higher than all others in the world except the other 12 African countries). Mobile money account is recorded to be widespread in East Africa (20% and 10% of adults have mobile money accounts and mobile money account only respectively) than any other region.Firms providing financial services, be it services or infrastructure is the most important and unique set of stakeholders who should be encouraged to take the lead roles in financial inclusion activities and implementations. Financial services firms are uniquely positioned, to use their existing infrastructure and leverage to creating access, and usage of digital financial services.They do so effectively and at a lesser cost as compared to government agencies because they can do so through their already existing departments as the marketing and customer service departments. Financial services firms are driving innovation for digital finance across the globe. Firms as GCAP have been investing in solutions to accelerate financial inclusion. It announced that in its call for proposals on innovative digital technology with huge potential to advancing the financial inclusion drive in sub-Saharan Africa, out of the over 200 applicants and proposals submitted, Financial Technology (Fintech) firms submitted (56%), Financial Services Providers (18%), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) (13%) and Technology Services Providers (9%).Growing evidence from other similar calls suggests that there is a trend, that the journey of using innovative technology and financial inclusion in the sub-Saharan African is not only picking up but even shows a rather promising outlook for the future, the opportunities for countries in the region are enormous for nations in advancing financial inclusion.The call now is for countries at their policy levels to position themselves, armed with policies and willingness of governments to support and collaborate with the private sector to drive financial inclusion activities. However, to further enhance financial and economic for much better gain is a continues process and does not take just a few days but undoubtedly without collaborations between public-private role and decision establishment and support, it will take us rather too long. Collaboration is therefore important for financial inclusion drives and actions.For governments or the public sector, their support in creating the needed supportive framework and regulations for the industry is important. Regulations and environment that supports innovation and drives whiles customer rights are supported are so much needed in this sector. In providing support and helping in creating an environment for financial inclusion activities to make the required impacting effects, government policies must have some balance of care. By doing so, any policy by a government on financial inclusion that does not take views from other important stakeholders may be implemented at last, but not without difficulties and in some case unreasonable delay in implementation.This can be attributed to a variety of reasons: more importantly, policies may be concluded, but if Financial services providers are not ready or not able to implement those policies, then, problems of “distressed“ policies then begin to show. In financial inclusion drives, success depends mostly on collaborations for improvement between the public-private sectors.The Opportunities for sub-Saharan African Economies
The opportunities exist for groups of people who need access and usage of financial services yet unable because of the barriers they confront mostly. Sub-Saharan African governments and private stakeholders can improve on the regulatory constraints and allow for the tap in technology innovation respectively to design solutions that will open access and usage of financial servicesAn important Segment of organized groups usually out of the formal financial economy thus, the “Savings Groups” always have their common values and beliefs most often deeply rooted with cultural and social entrenchment that must be considered when targeting with financial inclusion products and designs.The groups usually common in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin American come together for social and economic benefits and supports. They have different specific objectives but commonly among reasons are for group savings, group insurance, good trading and all kinds of group support systems. At best design of product and services for “savings groups” if the top is successfully accepted can only be through a consultative process, sometimes customized or tailor-made services (most appropriate where possible) and winning the genuine interest of the groups.There are over 14 million members of “Savings Groups” across 75 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America, representing a promising platform for financial inclusion in under-served markets. Savings Groups offer an entry point for financial service providers to isolated communities; they are organized, experience and disciplined; they aggregate demand across many low-income clients, and they have identified needs that financial service providers can address. Also, these groups are very goal oriented and purposeful but lack certain financial services- Some basic needs like accounts and payments and others sophisticated needs like saving platforms. Tailoring products to meet these segments who lack access to some financial services and are in need of those financial services would create opportunities for financial inclusiveness.Prioritization of digital payments is one way of minimizing corruption within expenditures, be it the private or public sector. Digitizing payments means better tracking of records of payments throughout the value chain of spending and transfers. In the Agriculture economy, it means that when the government pays 1 million dollars ($1.000.000.00) directly through “mobile money` to its citizenry for goods and services, then its most likely that, subject to cost of the transaction, farmers will receive their funds intact and same. The vulnerable citizen would then have value for money in dealing with the government whiles having to benefit from the opportunities that having an account and using it comes with. Such is not the case when physical cash changes hands in payments.The adoption level of digital financial inclusion with mobile money is generally high for sub-Saharan African. Stakeholders in the Public in the region can leverage its strong foundation and application of mobile money services to scale up the use of digital payments, but courses they must be the backing infrastructure to expand access as well. Increase in account ownership as a foremost financial inclusion indicator has primarily been through financial institutions except those recorded in Africa where mobile money accounts drove the growth in accounts ownership from 24% to 34% in 2011 and 2014 respectively.An area Africa is making giant strides – Mobile money account penetration. Accounts ownership and its definition have changed over just three years when Global Findex Database launched its first data for comparable indicators among countries on financial inclusion. In 2014 it considered mobile money accounts as recognized accounts in their right, hitherto in 2011 that wasn’t the case. The opposite was rather the accepted case, and rightly so. Today the digital disruptions in the financial, telecommunication and economic arena are having is impacts.For policymakers and private sector stakeholders, more keenly important is the fact that 5 of the thirteen sub-Saharan African countries (The only five in the world) – Somalia, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania and Zimbabwe have an adult population with more mobile account than they have from a formal traditional financial institution. What this means is that, in those five countries, an ordinary man on the street is more likely to have, use, trust and save in a mobile money account or wallet than saving with a traditional formal bank account. This comes with enormous opportunities and breakthroughs. Digital payments are comfortable, fast and less expensive than physical cash payments platforms.Tailoring products to meet these segments who lack access to some financial services and are in need of those financial services would create opportunities for financial inclusiveness. Prioritization of digital payments is one way of minimizing corruption within expenditures, be it the private or public sector. Digitizing payments means better tracking of records of payments throughout the value chain of spending and transfers. In the Agriculture economy, it means that when the government pays 1 million dollars ($1.000.000.00) directly through “mobile money` to its citizenry for goods and services, then its most likely that, subject to cost of the transaction, farmers will receive their funds intact and same. The vulnerable citizen would then have value for money in dealing with the government whiles having to benefit from the opportunities that having an account and using it comes with. Such is not the case when physical cash changes hands in paymentsThe adoption level of digital financial inclusion with mobile money is generally high for sub-Saharan African. Stakeholders in the Public in the region can leverage its strong foundation and application of mobile money services to scale up the use of digital payments, but courses they must be the backing infrastructure to expand access as well. Increase in account ownership as a foremost financial inclusion indicator has primarily been through financial institutions except those recorded in Africa where mobile money accounts drove the growth in accounts ownership from 24% to 34% in 2011 and 2014 respectively.An area Africa is making giant strides – Mobile money account penetration. Accounts ownership and its definition have changed over just three years when Global Findex Database launched its first data for comparable indicators among countries on financial inclusion. In 2014 it considered mobile money accounts as recognized accounts in their right, hitherto in 2011 that wasn’t the case. The opposite was rather the accepted case, and rightly so.Today the digital disruptions in the financial, telecommunication and economic arena are having is impacts. For policymakers and private sector stakeholders, more keenly important is the fact that 5 of the thirteen sub-Saharan African countries (The only five in the world) – Somalia, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania and Zimbabwe have an adult population with more mobile account than they have from a formal traditional financial institution. What this means is that, in those five countries, an ordinary man on the street is more likely to have, use, trust and save in a mobile money account or wallet than saving with a traditional formal bank account. This comes with enormous opportunities and breakthroughs. Digital payments are comfortable, fast and less expensive than physical cash paymentsRecommendations
1) Regional and sub-regional bodies in sub-Saharan Africa should take up the financial inclusion drive as a priority and ensure peer-to-peer commitments of its members based on individual country socio-economic dynamics.
2) Each sub-Saharan African country should develop a National Financial Inclusion Strategy in a highly consultative manner at their country levels to guide their efforts.
3) Sub-Saharan African governments should continuously support ongoing literature and research work on Financial and Economic inclusion to provide reliable data will guide the policymakers developmental aspirations and economic policies. Therefore countries should set up Financial Inclusion Research Fund as part of their National Financial Inclusion Strategy to support continues research on financial inclusion issues for their jurisdiction.
4) Sub-Saharan African Countries should commit a percentage (at least 1%) of their annual GDP as the budget for Innovative technology for the support of the digital economy stimulus for sectors like financial service and other industries to perform.
5) Efforts should be made at country and regional levels to make the use of financial services delivered electronically cheaper – best practice is Wechat and AliPay payment solutions in China. Wechat specifically has no cost build up for use of its platform for payment of goods and services, therefore promoting the use of mobile phones and users can transfer cash and make purchases digitally for goods costing as low as half a dollar. It is practically possible to pay for an item bought at an amount which is less than a dollar with no additional fee except the cost of item only. These are some of the readily felt benefits of Innovation Technology within the banking space.
6) African government set up support investment funds and partner firms which can design innovative technologies in the area.

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Project Management Skills Come From Adequate Training

Project management staff can be encountered throughout large corporations in almost every department. Operations managers may sometimes perceive project management as less important than regular business operations. Managers are the individuals that take notes, write reports, prepare presentations and keep projects running smoothly. They often perform these duties but project managers’ overall responsibilities are much more important, requiring sophisticated preparation, and all management staff may benefit from a course or two in project management training.Basic training will help management understand the complexities of managing major undertakings, even if they do not opt for full project manager certification. The models that govern special ventures provide tools such as time management, problem solving, people management, flow-charting and many other skills that are beneficial to all managers in an organization. Specialized software can help provide solutions to typical management problems.Operations leaders may fail to appreciate the importance of skills for managing projects correctly. They feel that the effort is a duplication of work already performed by others. The truth, however, is that these managers are appointed to head specific temporary projects that have been identified as vital to corporate health by senior management officials. At every level, managers need the training to perform their duties in order that the undertakings they supervise will achieve their goals.Training in managing projects is generally quite comprehensive and will enable managers to solve problems and allocate resources and personnel effectively to achieve budgetary goals or improve a company’s return on its investments. Business models will provide tools that help managers solve problems that develop in any business undertaking and keep progress on track. They will be able to implement changes that steer things more closely to the desired outcome.Many regular company managers feel they know how to solve these kinds of problems based on their experience and knowledge of the company and its clients. Even the best managers can draw erroneous conclusions when they attempt to solve problems outside of a structured methodology that considers all the consequences of one action on other areas impacting business ventures. Sometimes the moist experienced managers are most susceptible to this erroneous kind of thinking. Their experience and knowledge in one area blinds them to repercussions an action may have somewhere else. Snap decisions can be costly mistakes when all parameters are not considered.Project management training provides a structured way of considering problems and seeking solutions that advance the ultimate outcomes that are desired. The analysis may seem tedious, but careful consideration can pinpoint the best solution before unnecessary expenses are incurred and valuable time wasted. Operations managers may not need all the steps and tools formal training provides, but can benefit from increased organization. They will be better able to achieve their own objectives or exceed goals.

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The Great Debate: Digital Vs Traditional Marketing

The Great Debate: Digital Marketing vs The Letter Box DropI attended a Sydney Marketing function in June this year held by the popular Real Estate platform, RateMyAgent, and led by CEO, Mark Armstrong. His presentation was aimed at addressing the evolution of communication with an audience based on how quickly the commercial environment is changing today. This is both a relevant and tough debate, indeed!While this event was Real Estate specific, it is a topical discussion being held across every industry and every market around the world in all boardrooms and strategy meetings: digital vs traditional marketing.Where do we spend our precious budget to get the most cut through to engage our audiences and achieve our organisational goals?So, it’s finally time to analyse both sides and get to the bottom of this debate.Where Are Our Customers?Effective Marketing is all about your audience. This is never up for dispute as we all know it to be true. Knowing that, it may be time to take a step back and consider that age old question: have we thought about our customer?Recent research shows that 87% of consumers now search online for reviews to determine the quality of a local business, and I’m sure that statistic is pretty similar for how people are researching product information too. This is a big shift in behaviour from only a couple of years ago. Organisations didn’t start this- consumers did. We did. We, as people, changed the game, and organisations today are hugely naïve if they don’t think people are already doing most of their research before even contacting your business.As An ExampleMark Armstrong said his son needed an internet router for his house the other day, and at first, he had no clue what a router even was. In about ten minutes online, he become a pro with all of the brands, prices and specifications, then went straight into a local store, went to the shelf and purchased it without speaking to anyone in store.This is very indicative of the modern customer.The Digital InterviewToday, it’s all about ‘the digital interview’- in other words, searching online to find more information about a person or business without actually contacting them. Online dating, LinkedIn, Facebook, websites- it’s all about research before meeting in person. Around 70% of customers make up their mind before that stage, which is something businesses need to accept and adapt to.While statistics are always fickle, all you need to do is think about your own customer’s behaviour, and you instantly know this to be true. Hardly ever does a customer go in unprepared or uninformed.They’re All OnlineHow often do we go to a bar or a restaurant, and find everyone looking at a screen? It’s a sad reality, but a reality none the less. That is where your customer is! On their digital device.People aren’t looking for reviews and information in your physical office or in your marketing collateral – they are looking online. So, being there for your audience is absolutely crucial for your business success.
It’s all about your audience, after all.The Three Arguments: Digital vs Traditional MarketingThere are the three main considerations when deciding the pros and cons of new digital marketing versus more traditional methods, like the letter box drop or print.(1) Cost
(2) Effectiveness
(3) AccountabilityCOSTAs a general rule, more traditional methods tend to be far more costly in so many ways. It’s expensive to design, print and physically deliver materials like these. Now look at digital methods: it’s almost instant, requires little design due to templates, and the reach is not physically limited, meaning you can get ten times the exposure for around one-tenth of the cost.They seem to be light years apart on the cost front.For example, a client came to me recently and told me that the only advertising he was doing was on the back of local shopper dockets, which wasn’t giving him any tangible results, but was still costing him a few hundred dollars a month. For a fraction of this cost, I put his adverts onto Facebook and Google, and he immediately noticed the difference in leads generated!EFFECTIVENESSHow long do letterbox drops, print media and even mainstream advertising last?
Think about a letterbox specifically. The printed material sits in an office, then in a mail box all day. Then, when your audience gets home, are they truly engaged when they check their letterbox, stumbling in from work? They are coming home with the shopping, or wrangling the kids. This material has literally one second to capture them in amongst the rest of the clutter, and is so easy to ignore. That’s not to say it doesn’t occasionally work, but the chance of engagement is very low.Now, consider digital ads. It stays online for a much longer time, and due to the customisable nature of online targeting, it can pop up when the customer is more engaged and in the right headspace. It meets them on their terms, like when they are on their phone killing time, or browsing on a website, and so on. They can also interact with it by clicking on it, watching it, zooming in on it, saving it and much more.In comparison, think about when you hear a radio ad or see a TV ad: you have to remember and recall the advert at a later time for it to have any impact. This means your audience has to spend the effort to remember to act on it at a later time when it’s more relevant, such as when they get out of the car. Making this worse today is that we are constantly bombarded by ads and messages, which means that it’s very hard to keep one specific advert in your mind. You can’t rely on your customer recalling the message – you need to make it easy and at their fingertips.Digitally, your customer can fully interact at the very point they experience the piece of content, meaning engagement is far greater.ACCOUNTABILITYWhich technique truly works? What really has cut through and metrics to measure it? If you ask most organisations who spend budget yearly on letterbox drops, for example, they will say things like “$50,000 a year”, and then if you ask them “does this work?”, all they do is shrug their shoulders.The problem is, some businesses get into a rut of “it’s how we’ve always done it.” This represents a concerning shortfall in our perspective and our priorities. Our industries are too tough and our competitors too smart for us to be thinking this way anymore.On the digital marketing side, with retarget marketing and tracking cookies, online communication and adverts are able to serve up your communication to more defined and far better aligned demographics. Your adverts are more intelligent because they learn about the behaviour of your audience and adapt to how they consume content, then works out where and when to best display your marketing.The Three Battlegrounds of MarketingFrom the 1960ies, there has been an evolution of Marketing and communication battlegrounds based on how we built our customer database.(1) The Physical AddressOrganisations clambered to obtain the physical addresses of customers to communicate with them physically, either with a sales person, door knocking or letter box communications.(2) The Email AddressNext, emails went through an effective stage and businesses rushed to fill their databases with everyone’s @.com address. However today, we have found this to be far less effective do the quantity of spam everyone receives daily.(3) The Computer AddressPeople live on their mobiles and tablets now- this is where they are today. The battlefield has become exposure based on IP address online. Building a database of tracking cookies has become the Marketing battleground of today.While these IP addresses are kept private due to Privacy Laws and you never get the actual details, it doesn’t matter as you can rest assured that this technology is getting your message in front of the right people. Then tracking success comes from the metrics and analytics behind these interactions.
The core essence of Marketing hasn’t changed across any of the above battlegrounds: it’s always been about reaching your audience. The only thing that has changes is how- and this is a direct result from how the marketplace and consumer behaviour is evolving.What is it about Digital Marketing then?Digital Marketing is effective because it is customisable. It can target specific demographics to ensure that the best audience is getting your adverts and content at the right times.The following are three combined ways of how digital marketing finds your audience.(1) LocationGoogle tags computers with a geographical location. While letterbox drops can do the same, location is where the comparison ends. Digital is able to combine location with the following two qualifiers to ensure that your message is tailored, rather than mass distributed to just anyone.For example, in the Real Estate industry, around 70% of residences are investor controlled, which means letterbox drops are ineffective because the people receiving the materials are not the decision makers and therefore not finding themselves in the hands of the right people. Digital equivalents would use location and the following two to ensure it is being fed to the right customers.(2) Browsing HistoryIt is the fact above that allows digital marketing to take it one step further. The history of your browser paints a picture of the type of person your customer is and their interests, which means that adverts can be served up to match this. It’s not a perfectly accurate science, however due to the cost effectiveness of digital marketing, it has a far better cut through and success rate.(3) Remarketing and Tracking CookiesAs you move from website to website, tracking cookies embed themselves into your web browser to allow the content be catered specifically to you, so you are not receiving irrelevant messages. This allows advertising content to be shown to a relevant audience rather than just anyone.Where is Marketing Heading Next?Given that digital marketing is following around your ideal customer and delivering them relevant content, it seems to be working effectively at the moment. However, if I know Marketing the way I think I do, the next stage will be empathetic retarget marketing, which means showing the advert not just anywhere on any website, but when the person is browsing material that is contextually relevant.For example, when your customer, who has already been identified as interested in Real Estate, reaches a Real Estate or property website, the ad will be displayed, as opposed to how it is now, where it comes up on any website they may be looking at.It’s all about being in front of the right customer when they are in the right frame of mind.

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Augmenting the Marketing Competencies Can Help Pave the Path to Senior Management Roles

Climbing the success ladder and standing atop the management hierarchy is every professional’s dream. If you are too a working professional, don’t you aspire to be one among the senior management one day? Don’t you want to be on the other side of the table – commanding, leading from the top, and setting an example for many to follow? It’s not easy definitely; getting there requires immaculate efforts, and of course, the requisite skills.One among such most vital skills is marketing. Does not sound very common when it comes to senior management roles, right? But yes, it’s a skill that’s highly valued by employers today across organisations. It is, in fact, one of the pivotal competencies of a strong senior manager. We, at Times TSW, will help you explore why and how marketing skills form an inevitable trait for senior management roles, in this article below.Marketing Skills Form the Core of the Senior Management’s ResponsibilitiesIf you thought that marketing is a task restricted to the creative marketing department of your organisation, it’s time to rethink. Competition in the corporate world has brought marketing competencies right to the lap of every employee therein. And, once you start working on augmenting them, you’d soon start treading the path of success.This is because managers must know how to promote their specific product/idea in the market amid cut-throat competition. For this, they need to polish some of the basic marketing competencies such as:Effective communication
Communication is the lifeblood of a team lead/manager. That’s common knowledge. But it shouldn’t just be restricted to interpersonal or in-house communication. Marketing is a type of professional communication that happens between organisations (B2B), as well as with potential and existing customers (B2C). If you exactly know how to market your service idea outside the four walls of your enterprise, you’d be doing immense good to the latter as well as to yourself.Out-of-the-box approaches
What’s the most impactful quality of a senior manager? Their ability to think out of the box for the most trivial or critical issues at hand; to offer creative solutions when needed. Marketing skills require you to develop analytical thinking towards project goals and requirements and present innovative ways to achieve them, both to your team as well as your customers.Keeping pace with technology
Technological changes have seeped into every phase of work functions today. You may be part of any domain in your organisation, be it IT, marketing, finance, HR, or any other, you do need to adapt yourself to fast-paced changes all along so as to surpass the competition.Moreover, you need to keep an eye open for cues all along. For instance, keep a check if the traditional means of advertising the project idea are failing to attain desired results? See if digital marketing is the new trend in the market that can put across your message more effectively? Figure out and work on your marketing strategies in accordance with changing technologies.Efficient collaboration
Marketing competencies also involve effective coordination with other departments of the organisation as you work on your product. This may require you to sit with the design team to prepare your product design/logo for promotion, or spending time with the research team to analyse consumer survey data.Since all of these activities form a part of marketing, it’s a good idea to have a working knowledge of all these essential skills so as to qualify for senior management roles.How Can Executive Education Help?Marketing is the backbone of any company today. Your product literally has no value until it’s promoted effectively in the market. And this is exactly why each department needs to possess marketing skills to stay in and beat the competition.To help the ambitious professionals of the 21st-century sharpen their marketing skills and make their way to the senior management roles, the prestigious IIM Kozhikode has introduced its Executive Post Graduate Certificate in Marketing Management (EPGCMM) programme. The one-year Interactive Learning course is aimed at providing specialised marketing management training to executives, helping them grow into senior management positions in their respective organisations. The Executive Post Graduate Certificate in Marketing Management (EPGCMM) programme can be attended in any of the Times TSW centres across India, and the sessions are delivered live via a technology platform by none other but the senior faculty from IIM Kozhikode. So come and join the EPGCMM programme to augment your marketing skills and rise as the best in the field.

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Short, Intermediate, And Longer – Term Impacts On Home Sales, When Rates Rise!

For many reasons, some, economic, while others, related to the pandemic – related, so – called, fatigue, etc, home prices, in most areas, have gone up, at, or, near, record amounts! Because of the prolonged period of artificially – created, low – interest rates, mortgage rates, have been at historic lows! Since, for most home buyers, using financing is essential to affording a purchase, when a low rate, causes cheap money, and, thus, the ability to afford more home – for – the – buck, prices usually rise! It permits qualified buyers to qualify for more money/ loan, because the ratio of monthly mortgage, to overall income, is artificially – reduced! How long will this trend continue, will it become the new – normal, will previous trends/ cycles return, and how will pricing be affected, in the immediate, intermediate, and longer – run, are, all factors, to consider! With, that in mind, this article will attempt to, briefly, consider, examine, review, and discuss, some possibilities, to consider, and understand.

1. Short – term: Since, the Federal Reserve Bank, announced, they planned to raise rates, three times in 2022 (of course, this was before the potential implications, and ramifications, from the Omicron variant), many feel pressure, to act quickly, to take advantage of today’s low rates, before they go up! Three increases will probably translate to, at least, a 0.75% higher rate, which will translate, for most mortgages, to hundreds of extra dollars, per month. Some things to consider, and pay attention to, is, this rate of increased home prices, will, probably, not continue, especially, at such a large degree! How longer one, expects to keep a specific house, is, one issue, to consider, thoroughly, and wisely, before proceeding!

2. Intermediate – term: Although, many believe, to – know, the precise timing of any projected rate – hike, is uncertain! The Fed has changed, and/ or, altered its strategies and approaches, in the past, What the intermediate – term, may bring, including potential inflationary pressures, how long the economic conditions, and unknown factors, related to the pandemic, etc, will determine, largely, what this phase, may bring! In addition, the attitude, and perceptions of buyers, and their confidence, etc, largely impact this real estate market!

3. Longer – term: In the longer – run, will things, restore, to what we have seen, so often, in the past, which is, alternating cycles, between, Sellers, Buyers, and Neutral Markets? The possibilities, include: a continued large escalation; a more – gradual, but persistent – one; some leveling; and/ or, will we see, at least, in certain areas, some sort of falling prices, for a period.

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Affiliate Marketing Coach – Speed Up Your Affiliate Progress With A Coach

An affiliate marketing coach is someone who can help you lift the invisible ceiling which may be holding your affiliate business back. So much in business it is the limits of our thinking which stop us from achieving the things we set out to achieve.

In affiliate marketing this is very much the case. You don’t know what you don’t know! You may even be running down a rabbit hole in the complete wrong direction. I did this for years before finding an affiliate marketing coach who helped me.

Before this point I was trying to do everything alone. Many affiliates are doing the same but don’t realise their actions aren’t aligned with their desired outcomes. For me, I was focusing only on the things I liked to do, not the things which would drive my business forwards.

A clear perspective from a coach who isn’t so myopic in their thinking can change everything. If you keep doing what you’ve always done as an affiliate, your results will likely be the same. But if you’re prepared to step outside your comfort zone, you can make far greater changes in a small amount of time.

Much of affiliate marketing is about trial and error. You try several things and focus on the things which work. This is Pareto’s principle, or the 80:20 rule. But if you have no results to draw from, you could easily be focusing on strategies which will take years to gain any traction.

A few of the small shifts I made in my affiliate marketing endeavours are: shifting to promoting products which offer recurring commissions, I stopped promoting small value, low commission products, and I started using high ticket digital products instead.

These steps alone hugely helped me start generating tactics in my affiliate business. But I also got coaching and mentoring, and decided to take affiliate marketing more seriously. In the beginning, it was just a hobby, and I treated it like a hobby. But if you look at your affiliate business like a hobby, you’ll earn a hobby wage from it. Treat it more seriously, and focus on building a sustainable income which can replace existing work, and you can achieve much more. You get what you focus on!

Goals are useful signposts for affiliates too. For such a long time I was without a rudder as an affiliate. A goal gives you a specific destination you can measure and work towards. If you don’t have either a goal, or a strategy you can stick to with affiliate marketing, it’s easy to lose purpose and drift off in another direction.

When you’re looking for results and don’t have any, it can become completely demoralising! You need to stoke the fire of your own enthusiasm continually or you’re likely to become disillusioned and drop out. This happens to around 95% of affiliate marketers.

But you need to be in the 5% who stick at it and eventually break through and start making consistent sales. When this occurs will depend on the actions you take and how long you keep going for. If something isn’t working, try something else. Focus on the small wins like a hit on a website, or an email lead. Keep your enthusiasm high and you’ll be able to surmount the obstacles which come with the territory. But if you allow yourself to become dissatisfied, it’s much more difficult to keep going.

Affiliate marketing isn’t easy. It’s performance related which means that if you don’t make a sale, you don’t make any money. This is tough in the beginning because you can do a lot of activity which is unrewarded. But once you make a sale, there’s some light at the end of the tunnel. This is the goal of many new affiliate marketers – to make their first sale.

Once you have some positive feedback in terms of success, you can focus on the activities which brought it about. But until this happens, you very much need to trust the process. If you’re also paying a membership fee while this is happening, there can come a point where you decide it’s simply not working! This is common, and people drop out. But if you have a coach you can trust, things are so much more sustainable.

An affiliate marketing coach can help you overcome negativity, indecision, hesitancy and self belief issues. A coach can help you see things in a different light and to notice limitations in your thinking.

For me this has been a complete game changer, and not just for affiliate marketing. When you notice your own self talk is talking away your success and happiness, you realise you are the creator of your own outcomes. As you remember to change your self talk and thinking habits, you realise without belief there is no action. So belief is everything.

The person we listen to more than anyone else in life is ourselves. We talk to ourselves in our head constantly. Re reaffirm what we think and believe about ourselves continually. If we can learn to tap into this power, and start giving ourselves more positive commands, then we can grow both personally and professionally in a much more congruent way than simply through thinking, planning and attempting things in only the physical aspect of our affiliate business.

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7 Benefits of Custom Aluminum Cases

If you want to carry your expensive electronic items or any type of fragile instrument, we suggest that you be on the safe side. We suggest that you pack your expensive stuff in a reliable case. In other words, you may want to invest in a dependable custom aluminum case to carry your items with you. After all, you don’t want your stuff to get damaged during transportation. In this article, we are going to talk about some major benefits of custom aluminum cases. Read on to find out more.

1. Durability

First of all, one of the major advantages of these units is that they are extremely durable. In this case, we suggest that you go for a case that is splashproof, air-tight, and watertight. This is essential if you want the unit to stand the test of time. If it is not strong enough, your stuff inside may not be safe.

2. Withstand Extreme Conditions

Another major advantage of these units is that they are designed to withstand extreme conditions. Even if you use them on a daily basis, they will be good for years to come. In other words, you don’t need to worry about the durability aspect of these units.

3. Customizable

Some of these cases are designed to be customized. The idea is to make sure that you get a unit that you can customize to cover your requirements and needs. Since one size cannot fit everyone, we suggest that you get a customized aluminum case.

For example, you will need a specific type of case to store your tools. Similarly, there are specific aluminum cases if you want to carry delicate items. And the beauty of these things is that they are available in different sizes and shapes.

4. Custom Interior

If you want to protect your delicate items, we suggest that you get a case that comes with custom interiors. In this case, your delicate items will be safe even if the road condition is extremely bad.

5. Timeless Look

We suggest that you get an aluminum case that features a timeless look. After all, you don’t want to get a case that looks ugly or unappealing. So, if you are worried about the aesthetic aspect of these units, we suggest that you get a unit that seems appealing.

6. Corrosion-Resistant

With the passage of time, metal cases tend to face corrosion. Therefore, it is better to get an aluminum case as they are corrosion resistant.

7. Withstand Temperatures

The good thing about an aluminum case is that it can withstand extreme temperatures. Since aluminum features high thermal conductivity, this type of metal can easily transfer heat from your fragile items. Therefore, you don’t need to worry about the effects of the elements when it comes to getting your expensive or fragile items from one place to another.

Long story short, these are just some of the benefits of customized aluminum cases. If you have never purchased one, we suggest that you get one today. The beauty of these units is they are much better than other types of metal out there. So, the next time you need to purchase one, you may consider one made from aluminum.

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How Cromacoin Functions to Enhance Businesses Productivity?

Instead for entire details relevant piece of information in this world of modernized technology Cromacoin usually operates on wide-spread public ledger known as Blockchain where entire confirmed transactions. Entire ways where users are aware of each transaction avoid stealing and spending the same currency within stipulated time. This process also supports Blockchain as it is trustworthy for an appropriate piece of content. Cromacoin is one of excellent digital currency which has been stepping up to correspond with better digital currencies exchanges.

Where to store your new ICO’s tokens after procure?

There are diversified applications which one should utilize while obtaining new ICO’s tokens some of the vital key elements are visualized below for better appearance:-

• Full Client Satisfaction- It is one of email server which is encountered without dependent upon third-party servers. It also controls whole transaction from start to an end.

• Trivial Clients- The mandatory vital piece of server surely rely upon customer’s satisfaction as everyone acquires access to the network for uppermost transactions.

• Web Clients- It is the opposite of full client resembling which totally dependent upon the third-party server and operate entire transactions instantly.
Where can you find Cromacoin?

In order to get evolved with this cryptocurrency digital exchanges one can firstly purchase Cromacoin from steps involved below:-

• Cryptocurrency Exchanges where one can exchange regular new ICO tokens.

• One can find a seller or just by SING UP process available for procedural module.

• After Signing up Cromacoin is precious for customers for better investment plans.

Input important credentials to obtain freeway service to your account by SIGN UP process.

• It is recommended to utilize a strong elongated password with a mixture of letters, alphabets and other special characters.

• One will be able to find information about the product in our whitepaper which proffers an extreme most reliable piece of information rapidly.

• Get a proper financial report as ICO’s can be started with crowdfunding.

• Companies utilizing ICO at an earlier stage for traditional businesses acquire whitepaper which is the most likely concern.

One needs explanations about Cromacoin just by examining the whitepaper in ICO’s.

• Get a ratio for cryptocurrency along with procedural modules in accordance to digital currency exchanges.

Where are your tokens? Know more from defined information evaluated

Firstly, it is important to bring tokens for your ICO which is associated with your tokens available as per needs and requirements. It can suffer bit of project keeping in mind a trustworthy project which one can send for Cromacoin analyzed. It is suggested to deposit your new ICO tokens where tokens actually bare and help for your new token repeatedly.

• Set up for a coin and participate in ICO to buy tokens.

• The need of wallet which supported tokens for purchase.

• Participate in ICO to buy tokens from Cromacoin.

• Send ETH for a token purchase and one will be tied to private key of wallet.

• Acquire few pieces of information to accomplish with Cromacoin.

• Send ETH address for ICO and proffer tokens constantly.

• Don’t ask for a deposit which wallet supports for a new token or one can access to your New ICO tokens on Blockchain with appropriate security enabled policies.

How to import ICO tokens into a supported wallet?

If one has contract address for token one can import tokens into wallet. Likewise, our wallet has the capability to hold numerous tokens keeping in mind entire terms accuracy, precise along with efficiency which play a vital role to enhance one’s business productivity. Our wallet is encompassed with unique wallet address which is thereby sent just by input for tokens.

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Why Business Owners Seek to Enter Foreign Markets

It is no longer news that business investors from around the world look at entering foreign markets in order to expand their local business operations or diversify their investments and establish new operations in the international market.

Every year, hundreds of entrepreneurial and growing companies consider international expansion as a marketing and growth strategy.

If you have been successful in your business for some time and you have already mastered everything about running a business, overseas expansion may just be the logical next move you have to make.

On the flip side, for a majority of others, just having an overseas registered company and business address makes more sense to them than moving over to these foreign countries to establish a brick-and-mortar office.

Whichever the case is, there are at least 7 reasons entrepreneurs incorporate an overseas company, subsidiary or a representative office.

1. EXPANSION. About 95% of the world’s consumer’s reside outside Nigeria. Entrepreneurs whose vision and target market is a global one would consider to enter new markets abroad thus increasing their company’s overall market share and growth potentials.

2. POSSIBLE UNTAPPED MARKET. The possibility of an untapped market in foreign jurisdictions may motivate a Nigerian entrepreneur to incorporate an overseas company, subsidiary or representative office of his/her local company. Nigerian entrepreneurs who produce and package local foodstuffs for sale abroad fall into this category.

3. PROXIMITY TO INTERNATIONAL CLIENTS/CUSTOMERS. Truth be told, the Internet hs done enough to bring businesses closer to buyers. However, for some reasons, several business transactions may still warrant a traditional business presence in the city or country of operation. An overseas office of a local company need not be that big, and may be a home business address, a paid virtual office, or a small/liaison office just for the sake of getting customer feedback and linking back to the Nigerian office.

4. CORPORATE IMAGE. In order to boost their corporate image in the eyes of customers, suppliers, investors and businesses, some entrepreneurs just register an overseas subsidiary of their Nigerian company. This gives their target audience an impression that they are a company with international networks. In situations like this, the “international entrepreneur” need not set up a brick-and-mortar office abroad, he/she only pays for a virtual registered office in such country plus a mailing and telephone forwarding service.

5. COMPETITION. The fact that competing businesses or brands are entering the overseas market and are doing well motivates entrepreneurs in similar businesses to follow suit.

6. INTERNATIONAL PAYMENT. There are quite a number of international banking options available to companies registered in overseas jurisdictions – whether you are currently established in the overseas country or operating the overseas company from Nigeria. Having a corporate checking account abroad makes international payment much more easier by direct deposits, cheque or international wire transfers.

7. MIGRATION. Entrepreneurs considering a migration or move to an overseas country may incorporate a company in the destination country pending the time of their travel.

The United Kingdom, for instance, grants an Entrepreneur Visa to persons outside the European Union to gain entry to the UK for business reasons.

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