♥ Daily Infographic (2019) ♥

[MysteRy]

Easy Tips To Save Even More Money

Save even more money, without suffering in the process. Here are some clever ways to save extra money every month.

So you want to start saving more. That’s great! The first step is making a budget. In order to achieve this, look closely at your income and your spending. Grab a notebook or make a spreadsheet and write it all down; everything you receive per month and your expenses. To make this easier (especially when it comes to listing your expenses) start by the usual payments you need to make: rent, taxes, mortgage, subscriptions… In order to make sure everything is right, check your accounts and look at last month’s movements. That should give you a close idea of your usual spending habits.

Then, jot down coming expenses that fall outside your “normal” spending. This means birthday presents, holiday shopping, a wedding, a trip, or even a season where you know you’ll be eating out more (ie. finals week!). Now comes the fun part: calculate your monthly expenses and your total income. Deduct your expenses from your income, and you’ll be left with your pocket money.

Of course, sometimes that pocket money can seem like too little. How are you going to retire and achieve financial freedom if you only save 50 bucks per month? If you want to know how to save even more, check out today’s infographic.

By Emily

[MysteRy]

What Today’s College Student Looks Like

What first comes to mind when you envision a college student? Do you think about the newly turned 18-year-old with a brand new roommate who’s getting out of the house for the first time? What about the working parent who is getting out of night class just in time to pick up their kids to do it all again tomorrow?

As an adjunct professor at a college, I can attest to the fact that college students in the United States look like these two characters and many, many more. The college student population is a diverse one and is ever-changing—especially with more opportunities for e-learning.

While 72% of college students are still grinding it out in the classroom, 14% are in hybrid programs (both online and in the classroom,) and the remaining 14% are taking their classes solely online. The majority of college students are under the age of 21, but 8% of people 40 years of age and older are still reaching their academic goals by attending school.

The margin is a little narrower when it comes to employment with 38% of college students who aren’t working, 36% who are working part-time, and 26% who have full-time gigs. These findings cite a graduation hinderance in the post-secondary education arena. Many programs are designed for, what I call, “traditional” students (i.e. fresh out of high school who are going to school full-time). The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is calling for institutions to help level the playing field when it comes to tailoring programs to the needs of all these types of students featured in the chart.

The landscape of education is changing! Are we changing with it?

By Elyssa

[MysteRy]

15 Email Hacks To Make Your Next Campaign Go Viral

Is email marketing still relevant? Well, the jury is back and email is still one of the most effective communication channels between business and customers. Here are 15 hacks to make your next campaign go viral!

The growth of social media platforms has had many marketers and advertisers claim the death of email marketing. Apparently, there’s nothing further from the truth. Email campaigns can be a big hit or a huge miss — the key is in the content. If the information you’re sending isn’t relevant to your recipients, you’re going straight to the spam folder.

What makes email marketing so effective is that these people voluntarily shared their email with you. This means they’re interested in what you have to offer. Now, your role is turning that interest into sales. This is the advantage over social media, where content is filtered and not every one of your followers will get to see the things you post.

The key to good email marketing is proper list segmentation. In layman’s terms, this means you can’t send the same exact email to everyone on your list. You should select what kinds of content every kind of client should receive. This can be as simple as segmenting it by gender, age, the topic of interest, or it can be as complex as applying different filters and ending up with different lists for every campaign. The world is your oyster! Here are 15 hacks that will pave your road to a viral campaign.

By Emily

[MysteRy]

Why You Should Never Underestimate Local Marketing

When you’re searching for somewhere to eat or shop, you wouldn’t think of googling establishments in a different city, right? So why do so many businesses fail to pay attention to local marketing?

Anyone who tries to sell any kind of product or service is aware that there are always marketing challenges to overcome. One way for marketers to make life easier for themselves is to shift their priorities to local marketing.

The numbers are concrete: 46% of all searches on Google are seeking local information. Considering the rest are (one can assume) porn and memes, that’s a mind-blowing percentage. Similarly, 86% of consumers rely on the internet to find a local business, and 29% search for local businesses at least once a week. A whopping 30% of Google mobile searches are relating to location – all of which means there are customers out there, waiting to be found.

So what’s the takeaway? Well, if you’re not optimizing your marketing to attract those local consumers, you’re missing out. For any kind of brick-and-mortar business, attracting clicks and attention from around the world doesn’t actually mean much if people aren’t walking in and spending cash. By focusing on local customers, businesses can be more efficient with their marketing and get a greater bang for their buck.

By Irina

[MysteRy]

The Scary Numbers Behind Dementia In The US

Do you know anyone living with dementia? Chances are you probably do. In fact, it’s so common that it has been called an epidemic, and numbers will only increase.

According to the World Health Organization, around 50 million people are living with dementia, and it’s only going to increase in the coming decades. This is such a common condition that someone is diagnosed every four seconds around the world!

In the US, around five million people live with dementia. Among patients, most dementia cases are because of Alzheimer’s disease, followed by vascular dementia. As people live longer dementia cases will increase, and a study predicts that around 13 million Americans will be diagnosed with dementia by 2060.

Nevertheless, age-related dementia risk has decreased in the past years. This means that people are making wiser health choices, causing a later dementia onset. This trend could also be due to higher education levels, better access to health services, and preventive measures to control blood pressure and other cardiovascular issues. All of this contributes to effectively diminishing the possibility of vascular dementia.

As you probably know if you’ve been personally affected, dementia care is expensive. It’s such a common condition that, if the money spent were a business, it would surpass the biggest multinational companies by a lot! In the end, there are lots of resources dedicated to researching and trying to fix dementia: from pharmaceutical companies to universities and care centers. If you want to know more, check out today’s infographic!

By Emily

[MysteRy]

Quick N’ Dirty Guide To Mexican Food

Who doesn’t love Mexican food? Tacos, quesadillas, and salsas have slowly grown to reach our dinner tables, but there’s more to Mexican food than tacos. Here’s everything you need to know!

First, a bit of history. Mexican food is mainly based on native crops like corn, tomatoes, avocadoes, beans, and cocoa. Common staples like rice and wheat came from Europe but quickly became part of Mexican cuisine.

Most Mexican dishes are pepper-heavy. Not only the super spicy ones we’ve come to know and love but also some very subtle tasting peppers you might not even know are there. Bell peppers, guajillo, jalapeños, and poblanos–peppers are what give Mexican food its distinct flavor. Each dish can change not only by the type of pepper but also the preparation it goes through, like chipotle (AKA smoke-dried) or mulato/ancho (unripened/ripened poblano).

On the other hand, corn (although sometimes eaten whole) is often found in the form of delicious tortillas. These thin flatbreads are cooked in a pan and they can be baked, rolled, wrapped, fried, or eaten on their own.

The kind of Mexican food we’re mostly accustomed to is called “Tex-Mex”. These are Mexican dishes influenced by US styles and ingredients. Tex-Mex food is usually rich in shredded cheese and cumin, which aren’t commonly found in traditional Mexican food.

Step out of your Mexican comfort zone and get to know more dishes besides the traditional tacos. Get ready to enjoy some delicious meals!

By Emily

[MysteRy]

Easy Ways To Spot A Liar A Mile Away

Did you know that more than 80% of lies go undetected? That means people have been lying to your face all this time. Save face and avoid misunderstandings, here are some basic signs that make it easy to spot any liar.

For starters, people lie all the time. Most of these lies are petty and small–whether or not you ate that piece of candy, how old you are, or how much you weigh. The key to spotting a liar is to know the signs. Once you’re in the loop, it’s pretty easy to know if someone is telling the truth. This is how police officers, FBI agents, and even mediums know whether they’re on the right path or if a suspect is lying through their teeth.

As everyone has slightly different telltale signs, professionals start by setting a response baseline. This is achieved by asking basic and non-threatening questions that would elicit a “normal response”. This lets you know how someone behaves when telling the truth. It’s important to ask enough questions to observe a pattern.

Then, start by asking questions that you know might elicit lying, and observe subconscious cues in facial expressions, eye movement, and ways of speaking. Body language often changes when someone is lying, so you should also take that into account.

If you want to know more about spotting a liar, check out today’s infographic!

By Emily

[MysteRy]

46 Easy Hacks To Boost Your Ecommerce

Everyone knows the importance of optimization, but how can you really do it? Here’s how some big companies have boosted their websites and optimized their online presence. Get ready to take notes!

Optimization is one of the keys to any business’ success. In the end, an optimized website will increase both the quality and quantity of your site’s traffic.

Optimization means making it easy for search engines and people to scan through your website, so they can find important information faster and more efficiently. This involves the classic keyword placement, that is, using target keywords frequently enough so people can find your site when searching those words. It also includes design elements like placing your logo in the right place.

Having an optimized site simply means making it easy for visitors and search engines to navigate it. Choosing the right colors, words, and tools will contribute to your audience getting to the pages that interest them faster, as well as making your site look professional and complete.

You should also make sure your site works as well on mobile as it does on a desktop. More and more users go online exclusively on their phones, so make sure it’s a smooth ride in every platform.

Take a look at what other successful businesses have made to optimize their websites.

By Emily

[MysteRy]

Crazy Ways Emoticons Boost Team Productivity

Emojis are life when it comes to posting on social media or texting friends and family, but in a work environment? Get your smileys ready, too!

Emojis have become so ubiquitous that the “language” is becoming an essential part of workplace communication and team culture.

These faces let you relate better to your audience, but are also a way to establish an emotional connection with other teammates. Of course, if you have a good emotional connection with the team, everybody feels closer, more connected, and happier in their role.

Emojis are so effective because we react to them as we would to an actual human face. Really! The round face of emojis gives us the unconscious feeling that we’re actually “talking” face to face with the rest of the team. The older variant “:-)” works as well, although it isn’t as effective as the newer ones.

In a work setting, adding emojis won’t affect credibility, and instead will strengthen your bond with the team. Emojis can serve to get across the nuances in workplace communication by clarifying your tone of voice, answering more quickly and efficiently, and building rapport.

So, unless you use them inappropriately (no flirting please!), emojis are a great addition to the workplace.

By Emily

[MysteRy]

How To Make Your Email Marketing GDPR Compliant

In 2018, the EU implemented a new regulation covering customers data protection. Have you updated your own marketing campaigns?

The General Data Protection Regulation (Aka GDPR) has affected every business in the EU, as well as any company doing business in the continent and dealing with EU customers’ information.

Simply put, the GDPR aims to protect data and give customers more input on the data collected about them. This means that EU customers now have the right to be informed, right of access to their personal information, and right to control and manage automated decision-making and profiling. This can be very difficult for marketers, as most marketing strategies are based on user information that hasn’t been specifically authorized.

In the case of email marketing, you will probably need to refine your consent forms in order to comply with the new regulations. The bigger changes will be seen in subscription forms: gone are the days were checkboxes were checked by default, or you had to purposefully unsubscribe from extra subscriptions. Businesses are now forced to give clients the choice of subscribing, and every checkbox should come with a clear explanation of what you’re consenting to.

Even though it might be a bit uncomfortable for businesses to change their email forms, I believe this is positive in the long run. Customers will be more informed and will have more input on who has their personal data and how it’s being used.

If you want to know more about how your emails should look like, check out today’s infographic!

By Emily

[MysteRy]

Pairing The Right Plants For Better Growth

Have you heard of the sayings, “You are who you hang out with” or, “that kid is a bad seed?” Well, the same concept applies to plants…sort of.

In natural ecosystems, certain plants can help or prevent another plant from flourishing. The same applies to the vegetable garden sitting right outside your kitchen window. Some plants can sap nutrients from their counterparts, while others lend the very nutrients they need to keep them thriving.
 While tomatoes and potatoes may be a nice combination on your plate, they will not prove to be the best companions if paired next to the other in your garden. Tomatoes tend to thrive better with basil, oregano, carrots, and celery, just to name a handful. While beans “get along” with plants such as cucumber, strawberries, lavender, sunflowers, brinjal, and cabbage, the opposite is true when it comes to beans paired with onion, garlic, and fennel.

Nasturtium is said to improve the taste of tomatoes if placed near each other. Not to mention, the combination repels white flies and spider mites. Talk about a double benefit! Calendula plus tomatoes can also keep the bugs in your garden at bay.

Now that you’re armed with this information, perhaps you can help your plants “hang out” with some “good” seeds.

By Elyssa

[MysteRy]

Why A Voice-Optimized Site Is The New Future

Voice search has come to stay. How is your business getting ready for it?

Alexa, Siri, Cortana, Echo… more and more companies are investing in voice search, and it’s for a good reason. Many gadgets nowadays incorporate voice control features, and people are taking a step back from texting and writing. Instead, they’re starting to talk to their electronics to accomplish common tasks.

Whether you want to lock the door, send an email or find a recipe for dinner, with the right tools you can use your voice to accomplish it all. Technology has made it possible to reduce errors, making more and more users opt for voice commands. These new digital assistants are rising in popularity because they make it so easy to search even when you can’t reach your electronics.

As a marketer or business owner, it’s important to optimize your websites to accommodate this growing mode of searching. Voice commands behave very differently from traditional written searches. People using voice commands are usually very clear on what they need, so you can really tailor the information to suit those needs. Leveraging voice search allows you to boost your website’s traffic and user experience. If you have properly optimized your content, people will get their answers faster and it will reduce bounce rates.

Today’s infographic has all you need to know about voice search. Get on with the trend!

By Emily

[MysteRy]

Why Coworking Spaces Are The New Norm

Where do you do your best work? Do you function most efficiently in a quiet environment like a home office or library?

Perhaps you like a little bit of action going on while you are getting things done and prefer to set up shop in a restaurant or coffee shop.

With so many people choosing to work from home, work remotely, or to work as a freelancer, the landscape of the workplace continues to change. Coworking spaces are ever-increasing in popularity, and various regions are receptive to the concept in different ways. Asia Pacific donned the highest number of coworking spaces in 2019, while EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) followed in second place. The United States came in third, while the United Kingdom finished fourth. China is projected to be one of the regions with the highest amount of coworking spaces by 2022.

89% of people polled report that they feel happier since choosing to work in a coworking space, while 83% of respondents say they feel less lonely since becoming a part of the coworking space. But it’s not just a desk and WiFi that some of these coworkers are paying good money for. Some spaces offer fitness amenities, healthy snacks, meditation areas, and standing desks.

If the four walls of your home office are looking a little bleak, a coworking space just may be for you.

By  Elyssa

[MysteRy]

9 Easy Rituals For A Better Day At Work

If you like what you do, you’re always looking to get better at it. Reaching a peak level of performance every day can be challenging. One simple way to raise your quality of work is by doing daily rituals.

Although they may seem like silly superstitions, performing these tasks has been shown to have some serious benefits. Researchers have found that small rituals can help reduce anxiety before big events. Just ask Cristiano Ronaldo, who makes sure that his right foot touches the grass first as he enters the field.

You can even start with your rituals before you leave the house each day. For example, finishing off your morning shower with ice cold water will improve your circulation and get you ready for the day. 

In case brain freezes aren’t your thing, there are plenty of other options. Simply counting your breaths can help you prepare for important business meetings by getting your into the right mental state. Breathing exercises can improve other areas of your life as well.

Another helpful ritual for many is that of keeping a journal. It provides an easy way to organize and process everything that might be going on around you.   

So next time anxiety creeps up, be sure to use one of your rituals to help you regain control. Good luck!

By Ivo

[MysteRy]

Surprising Social Media Shortcuts You Need To Know

Things move very quickly on social media. Blink and you might miss the latest trends or groundbreaking news. So wouldn’t it make sense to learn how to navigate faster through the different networks? Keep this keyboard shortcuts cheat sheet in handy and never miss a beat.

Switching between your keyboard and mouse when using social media costs you time. By learning some navigation shortcuts, you can save yourself close to 60 hours per year! That’s 60 hours of Netflix binges, friend hangouts, and cat videos your missing out on!

Shortcuts also make things more convenient. Ever try to pause a YouTube video during an exact scene? Getting your cursor on the tiny pause button can result in you missing the right moment. An easier way to do it is by simply pressing the spacebar.

In case you’re scrolling through Facebook and want to look at each post one by one, just press J to move forward and K to move back.  When you find ones worthy of your thumbs-up, just hit the L button.

Considering how many things happen each minute on social media, every second counts. Don’t waste anymore time with your mouse and instead start navigating like a pro!

By Ivo