To grow a meaningful audience online, it's critical that you give people a reason to follow you.One of the main reasons is that they don't make a compelling case for why someone should follow them. There is no objectively "right" way to design your social profiles.Here's a 4-step checklist below to make sure you're giving your readers a reason to hit the "follow" button:1. Banner image to achieve an outcome2. Headshot to evoke a specific type of emotion3. Tagline to clearly state what you do and who you help4. Show off your deeper expertise through pinned Tweet & featured section.

The Secret To Making People Follow You

The very first thing people see when they hit your Twitter or LinkedIn profile is your "banner" image.This is prime real estate. Use it to achieve a specific outcome:<ul><li>Build brand awareness</li><li>Drive newsletter sign-ups</li><li>Send people to your website</li><li>Sell a digital product or service</li><li>Get them to follow you on social media</li></ul>

Use Your Banner Real Estate Wisely

When you first look at someone's profile, you make an assumption about what type of person they are just by looking at their headshot.Is this the best way to judge someone? Of course not. Do we do it anyway? Absolutely. It's human nature.Headshots are meant to evoke a feeling:<ul><li>Kind</li><li>Tough</li><li>Playful</li><li>Powerful</li><li>Empathetic</li><li>Professional</li></ul>Your headshot should align with your brand.

Your Headshot Is the First Trust Builder

If you have a clear banner and a great headshot, you're ahead of about 50% of the profiles I see on social media.But, your "tagline" is often a make-or-break moment.The goal of the tagline is three-fold:<ul><li>Tell people who you are</li><li>Tell people what you do/who you help</li><li>Tell people what they should expect if they follow you</li></ul>

Your Tagline Is the "Why", Not the "What"

Nobody needs to know that you're a "Director of Marketing" or "Account Executive" or "Software Developer". None of those things is helpful to the reader. <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexAndBooks_">Alex & Books</a> is clear and to the point. He helps you "find amazing books & develop a reading habit."

What You Do and Who You Help

This is your opportunity to spell out precisely what people should expect if they hit the follow button. So, again, be clear. I tell people exactly what to expect when they follow me.

Tell People What They Should Expect if They Follow You

If you have a smart banner, a solid headshot, and a clear tagline, you'll probably earn a lot of followers from your content.But one of the most overlooked ways to increase your chances is through showing off your expertise at a deeper level.On Twitter, you can do this with your pinned Tweet. On LinkedIn, you do this through the Featured Section of your profile.This is a great place to tell your story (pinned Tweet) or show off your newsletter or projects (featured section on LinkedIn).

Show People How You Think at A Deeper Level

Our profiles: What we overlook on Twitter and Linkedin.

Stashed ideas

Fix Your Social Profile And Make People Follow You

The best way to choose a niche is to first decide on what you enjoy and what you are good at. This way, you will be able to monetize your passion and your skill. With the two key factors combined, you will be able to build a strong foundation for your business.Doing something that you are passionate about will keep you motivated in the long run, because you are doing something that you love. This will be the main drive that keeps you going whenever you feel like giving up. If you are doing something that you don’t enjoy, you have a higher chance of quitting.

Identify your passion and skills

Building a profitable business is about understanding the problems and desires of your target audience and being able to bridge the gap to help them get to where they want to be. To solve their problems, you will first need to be aware of the problems that they are facing.With the internet at our fingertips, we can easily search for keywords on Google to find out what pain points our potential customers are facing. Facebook groups and Quora are great platforms to discover the questions that people are asking. They are also ideal places for market research.

Identify your target audience's problems

It is important to know your competition to truly understand where you stand so that you can determine the profitability of the market. Understanding your competitors will enable you to identify market gaps and fill the gap.You’ll get to establish your unique value proposition and determine whether the market is oversaturated or not. Knowing your competitors will give you an idea of how to outrank them by studying their strengths and weaknesses. Competitor analysis and monitoring your performance will help you be well-equipped with making improvements along the way.

Research your competition

It is crucial to determine whether the niche you have chosen has a need and whether people are willing to pay for what you have to offer. Choosing an evergreen industry is one way to ensure that your business will be in a profitable market.Some markets tend to perform better than others because they are evergreen, which means that there is always demand in those markets. You can conduct market research using Google Trends to find trending topics and keywords that are highly searched.

Determine potential profitability

You can use crowdfunding websites to validate your product idea and raise funds in the process. You can also create a landing page on MailChimp and start collecting leads just to see how well the promotion goes and whether the niche that you choose has any demand. One quick way to do that is by running a few paid ads to direct users to your landing page and measure the performance of your ads.The worst thing that can happen is choosing a niche with low demand, registering your company, and having your website up and running, only to realize that nobody wants your products or services.

Validate your idea

As the saying goes, 'If you try to sell to everyone, you will sell to no one.'

The Step-By-Step Guide to Finding Your Niche and Target Market

Unless you go an extra mile integrating your content ideation and creation processes into your sales funnel, your content may never bring in sales despite high search rankings and lots of traffic.
In this case, completing that extra mile requires only five steps, from ideation to CTAs and format.

Making Your Content More Effective In The Sales Funnel

What is it you are selling? Which problems are your products solving? Build your content ideation and keyword research processes around that. Not every “relevant” keyword is worth pursuing if there’s no way to tie it to your value proposition. The best content idea is the one that connects a searchable keyword with the product(s) your brand offers. It is not a bad idea to integrate your products into your keyword spreadsheets.

Match Content Ideas To Your Value Proposition

What questions are people asking when they search using a particular keyword? What problems are they experiencing? Your content should solve those problems and answer those questions. Content structure is one of the most effective ways to boost conversions. Break your content into logical sections. Answer all the questions relevant to the section. Visitors will be drawn deeper and deeper into your content, making them more willing to trust your brand and ultimately buy.

Build Content In A Problem-Solution Format

Search intent reflects why users are likely searching for something. In most cases, people search to buy, get informed, or go somewhere. Your page needs to give them that opportunity. Search intent optimization is key to converting readers into buyers, but don’t forget search intent may evolve based on how well your copy is written and structured. Creating text to match and transform that intent is fundamental to successful intent optimization.

Optimize For Search Intent

<ul><li>After creating content that delivers on the visitor’s intent, integrate calls to action that match the intent, such as:</li><li>List products from your site people can use to follow the steps.</li><li>Include a discount or promotional offer.</li><li>Ask them to sign up for a newsletter to get exclusive offers, etc.</li><li>Enable your visitors to schedule a demo or a sales call often shortens the buyer journey.</li></ul>

Get Creative With Contextual CTAs(Call To Action)

Finally, to make the most of your content creation in the buyer journey, create more videos. Between 37% and 47% of buyers prefer to engage with and learn more about a brand through video. Videos also will make your products more findable through YouTube and carousels on Google and other platforms. Creating videos help acquire new customers as well as close more sales. Any time you are working on an article, ask yourself if there’s a video creation opportunity there.

Create Videos

Follow these five steps to build a stronger bridge between your content marketing and sales – Content Marketing Institute

How To Make Content a More Effective Part of Your Sales Funnel - Content Marketing Institute

When plans change during the last minute we can't help but feel a tinge of frustration, however, it is important to keep in mind that there are changes that's unavoidable. 
Every change in plans is a chance to practice gratuity; to the person and to the situation. This is a chance to grow out from frustration and welcome change.

Navigating Uncertain Waters

Plans changing should be welcomed with open arms as we remember to experience the present moment. We do this because when we focus on the frustration of having to perform changes we become fixated on the expected idea of what things should be... which is no longer the truth.
This simply is a mindfulness expercise where we learn to be open to the moment that is unfolding, unpredictable, and unplanned, yet still breathtakingly an experience.

Using Changes To Stay Present

Having changes in our plans make us feel unstable and anxious of the outcome of "what's to become." This moment of fear creeps up on us but we can avoid panicking by learning how to relax with uncertainty.
When we learn to relax with uncertainty we become calm and composed. By doing so, we are ready to ask ourselves about the best possible solution to this change with ease.

Flowing and Relaxing With Change

Practice. Practice. Practice.
When we practice finding focus in any difficulty, we can and we will find the answer to our problems. 
Allow yourself to take the time to pause and reflect on what you need to focus on. A simple 10 minute reflection will do. Clear your mind from all the noise and give yourself one thing to do... pause.
Practice this when your mind gets distracted!

Finding Focus in Chaos

In order to create order in chaos, we can create a structure that we can rely on. It will help us to get the important commitments done on time when we need them be.
However, when having a structure, don't let yourself make it your "ol' reliable." Allow the structure to be guide you but don't let yourself get attached to it because we must allow for changes and adjustments to happen.

Having a Structure

Becoming Nimble at Dealing with Ever-Changing Plans - zen habits

Lighting techniques set the scene of a film. Cinematic lighting creates depth, drama and atmosphere, direct the audience's eye to a specific element, such as an actor or prop, and even reflect the emotions and nature of a character.
Techniques in cinematic lighting include diffusing and bouncing light and adjusting colour temperatures to create a specific atmosphere that can enhance visual storytelling.

Lighting techniques essential in filmmaking

Self Improvement

<ul>
<li>The key light is the strongest and brightest light source. Therefore, it makes the strongest shadows.</li>
<li>Fill light _"fills in" the shadows cast by the key light and _softens the lighting on the subject and environment. It is placed near the camera and around 120° from the key light.</li>
<li>Backlight is used to separate the subject from the background. It is placed behind the subject and around 120° from the fill light.</li>
</ul>

Three-point lighting is most commonly used

Hard or harsh lighting uses smaller light sources to cast large, crisp shadows on the subject while increasing the contrast. The effect is a dramatic, suspenseful atmosphere that evokes a sense of fear or wickedness.
Common sources of lightning:
<ul>
<li>Low-key lighting comes from one source to create strong shadows and contrast.</li>
<li>Kicker light with soft fill. A backlight shines on the side of the subject's face and creates a rim light effect. The soft fill light mildly illuminates the face.</li>
</ul>

Hard or harsh lighting

Soft lighting is created by using larger light sources further from the subject and in a scene with many fill lights. The lights illuminate the whole frame instead of just a single subject. The effect is a dreamy, romantic or fantastical atmosphere that portrays hope and peace.
<ul>
<li>High-key light. Fill light and backlighting brighten up the entire frame. It has a neutral effect. Extreme high-key lighting creates a peaceful atmosphere.</li>
<li>Diffused overhead lighting is suitable for close-up shots.</li>
</ul>

Soft or diffused lighting

<ul>
<li>Side lighting. It illuminates the contours of the face and increases contrast for a dramatic effect.</li>
<li>Bounce lighting. A reflector is used to bounce a strong light towards the subject. It spreads and softens the light.</li>
<li>Motivated lighting. Studio lights, lanterns or other artificial lights resemble a natural light source, such as the sun.</li>
<li>Practical set lighting. It uses existing light sources to light the scene, such as lamps or studio lights.</li>
<li>Natural film lighting, also known as ambient lighting, uses the light already available.</li>
</ul>

Other lighting techniques

<ul>
<li>Warm lighting creates red, yellow or orange tones. It evokes a sense of comfort, warmth, happiness and is often used in romance or teen dramas.</li>
<li>Cool lighting creates blue, green or grey tones. It projects a feeling of loneliness or coldness.</li>
<li>White lighting has no coloured tones. The effect is mainly neutral, but excessive use of white light can feel overwhelming.</li>
<li>Coloured lighting is tinted with different colours and can be used to set different moods. For example, red reflects romance or danger.</li>
</ul>

Colour

Lighting can help to reveal a personality or emotions.
<ul>
<li>Under lighting. The light shines from under the character's face and creates a creepy effect.</li>
<li>Backlighting. The light source is behind the subject and creates a halo effect around the subjects head, making them looking angelic.</li>
<li>Kicker. Backlighting on the subject's temple highlights a chiselled cheekbone.</li>
<li>Eye light. The light source is put on the camera and illuminates the front of the face. It creates an intriguing sparkle.</li>
</ul>

Lighting for characters

Cinematography: Understanding Lighting in Film

The 20th century has seen musical creativity, diversity and experimentation, taking a cue from the past music styles, while utilizing the newly available resources and technology.
Innovative changes have been seen in the kinds of instruments and noisemakers being used, combining chords, chord structures, and tempo modulation that created music not heard in the decades before.

The Age Of Music Diversity

The composers made use of dissonant chords, polychords, tone clusters and other creative music-making techniques to create their own unique sound.
The middle ages had a monopolistic musical texture, which later morphed into vocal music with church choirs, based on the sacred Gregorian chants.

The Unique Sounds Of the 20th Century

Musical texture in the Baroque Period (16th century) was mostly polyphonic or homophonic, and as musical instruments were added, they became richer. 
This includes Classical music tunes from the Romantic period as well as other innovative sounds from the United States and even the non-western cultures.

The Baroque Period

Audiotapes and computers resulted in composers having a lot more creative freedom with the use of percussion and noisemakers making the sounds richer and refined. Music became expansive and unpredictable.
Radio and TV made music accessible to people sitting at home. Recorded music, starting with vinyl recordings, was much appreciated and is still sought after by music aficionados.

The 20th Century: Technology And Music Composition

<ul><li>Talented composers were sprouting all over the globe, but social and political problems stifled the musical voices in many countries.&nbsp;</li><li>The US became the centre of all musical activity, and many had to conform to their existing regime and fade away.&nbsp;</li><li>Others chose to migrate to the US and then pursue their musical goals.</li></ul>

The US Becomes The Hub Of Music

The 20th century is the Age of Musical Diversity due to the freedom that came from a combination of instruments, noisemakers, and shifts in dynamics.

Which Century was Considered the Age of Musical Diversity?

<ul>
<li>Founded by Zeno, Stoicism states that our emotions get their wings by our thoughts, while our feelings are based on our beliefs. The key to living is to be virtuous and move in harmony with nature. Bad things will keep happening, just don&#39;t’ get so hung up by that.</li>
<li>Marcus Aurelius, a great Stoic thinker, wrote that if we are pained by an external factor, our own judgement about that is the problem. It is in our own hands to change our judgement.</li>
<li>Psychotherapy, or paying attention to ourselves and the wellbeing of our souls was suggested by Socrates, while he was facing execution.</li>
</ul>

Stoicism: Foundations Of Self-Help

<ul>
<li>The Roman philosopher Boethius was on death row as he fell out of favour with the King in the year 524 AD. He wrote his last work, Consolations in Philosophy while awaiting death.</li>
<li>He wrote about why bad things happen, why bad men prosper and live in wealth, while good men stay poor and get killed.</li>
<li>The life manual written on the brink of death became highly popular in the middle ages, read by people like Queen Elizabeth I and King Alfred.</li>
</ul>

A Philosophical Consolation

In the 16th century, Niccolo Macchiavelli’s The Prince became a huge hit among kings and politicians. 
The book suggested certain immoral ways to rule a kingdom, with famous advice like ‘The end justifies the means’. The guidelines resonated so much that the book is still a huge influence.

The Prince

In the 16th Century, Robert Burton wrote about the human condition, which can be classified as melancholy, a big book consisting of sad tales about everything, but written in a simple, readable style. 
It was like an encyclopedia of misery, with the writer meditating on sad things just to keep his mind off them.

The Anatomy of Melancholy

Self-published in the 19th century, ‘Self-help’ by Samuel Smiles illustrated and executed the power of perseverance. 
It was an international bestseller, kickstarting the ‘self-help’ genre itself after making the publishing industry sit up and take notice.

Self-Help: The Book

The self-help industry is reportedly worth $13bn in the US alone. Robin Ince looks at the  roots of a literary tradition that goes from strength to strength.

The ancient roots of self-help

The most common symptoms are:
<ul>
<li>Not trusting your own opinion</li>
<li>Always overthinking</li>
<li>Afraid to take on a challenge</li>
<li>Hard on yourself but lenient with others</li>
<li>Frequent anxiety and emotional turmoil</li>
</ul>
Lesser-known symptoms are being a workaholic, and either overachieving or underachieving.

Symptoms of a Low Self-Esteem

Causes of low self-esteem are often traced back to negative early childhood experiences, such as frequent punishment or neglect, chronic abuse, bullying, and lack of affection.
We form our bottom line (how people treat us) in childhood. Based on the bottom line, we form our "Rules for Living," which are strategies for dealing with life.

What Causes A Low Self-Esteem

<ul>
<li>You expect people to mistreat you. When people are friendly to you, you can easily mistake it for love and scare them away.</li>
<li>It makes you have a lower hand in the relationship. You may bear things in a relationship that you shouldn't stand for.</li>
<li>Though you may be very gifted, you may not know how to show it and make it difficult for your employers to appreciate your talents. During a meeting, people with low self-esteem will keep quiet or speak weakly. During daily conversations, they say sorry and maybe too often.</li>
<li>It can lead to depression.</li>
</ul>

Having Low Self-Esteem: The Consequences

<ul>
<li>Ignore all those "positivity" advice. To hear "You're actually awesome" or "You should be more confident" does not help. It only makes you feel more inadequate or guilty of your behaviour.</li>
<li>Focus elsewhere. There is no direct way to improve self-esteem. It is a by-product of a fulfilled life. Instead, pursue goals that really matter to you. Take care of the five levels of basic human needs, as described in Maslow's hierarchy of needs.</li>
</ul>

How to Improve Self-Esteem

The five basic needs are physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.
To focus elsewhere, it can be summarised as follows:
<ul>
<li>Deep connection with loved ones</li>
<li>A healthy body</li>
<li>Sense of control</li>
<li>A meaningful life purpose</li>
<li>Recognition and respect from others</li>
<li>Sense of security</li>
<li>Creativity</li>
</ul>
As you equip yourself with the skills to fulfill the above needs, you'll forget about self-esteem. Then, one day, you'll find you've become a confident person.

The Levels of Human Basic Needs

People who have low self esteem are always too hard on themselves. But they're still likely to be overachievers! Here're the signs of low self esteem and how to overcome it for success.

Symptoms Of Low Self-Esteem And The Root Causes of It

Developed by psychologist Edward Thorndike, the law of effect states that any behaviour that is positive or leads to satisfaction in a specific situation is likely to be repeated when that same situation arises again. Behaviours that lead to unease or discomfort tends to not be repeated.
Example: If we practice for a public talk and give an outstanding performance, leading to huge applause and subsequent praise, we are more likely to practice for our next performance.

The Law Of Effect

In the Law Of Effect experiments, Edward Thorndike used a cat that was kept in a puzzle box with a lever, and could only go out by pressing the lever.
This and other behavioural studies on animals led the psychologist to publish the law of effect in his 1911 book Animal Intelligence.

Origins Of The Law Of Effect

<ul>
<li>The Law of Effect has two parts, and records contrasting behaviours. If the effect is positive and leads to satisfaction, it forms a connection in the mind and will be repeated.</li>
<li>The actions that lead to negative effects or consequences, or which lead to discomfort for the doer, are less likely to be repeated as they will not form a connection in the mind. Example: Getting a speeding ticket makes it less likely to drive at full speed.</li>
</ul>

Positive And Negative Effect

Similar experiments conducted by B.F. Skinner, in which animals were kept in puzzle boxes with levers, led to a modified theory called Operant Conditioning.
The concept of reinforcement was introduced in the original law of effect theory, with reinforcements inserted in the positive and negative actions of animals, instead of waiting for them to try them out for themselves.

Operant Conditioning

The Law of Effect, proposed by Edward Thorndike, says that behaviors that lead to positive outcomes in a situation will be repeated in that situation.

What Is the Law of Effect in Psychology?

National Geographic defines paleontology as “the study of the history of life on Earth as based on fossils.”
This means the remains of everything from single-celled living things, fungi, and bacteria to plants and animals (and dinosaurs).

Paleontology

Sciency

These include:
<ul>
<li>the study of microscopic fossils (micropaleontology)</li>
<li>the study of fossil plants (paleobotany)</li>
<li>the study of pollen and spores produced by land plants and protists (palynology)</li>
<li>the study of invertebrate animal fossils (invertebrate paleontology)</li>
<li>the study of prehistoric human and proto-human fossils (human paleontology)</li>
<li>the study of the processes of decay, preservation and the formation on fossils (taphonomy)</li>
<li>the study of fossil tracks, trails and footprints (ichnology)</li>
<li>and the study of the ecology and climate of the past (paleoecology).</li>
</ul>

Paleontology encompasses many subdisciplines

Paleontology is the study of the history of life. Because that history is written in the fossil and geological record, paleontology allows us to place living organisms in both evolutionary (life-historical) and geological (earth-historical) context.
It is this contextual background that allows us to interpret the significance of characteristics of living organisms, and the significance of biological events occurring today.

Paleontology is a scientific necessity

While many paleontologists pursue careers in academia, there are other options as well. 
<ul>
<li>Some end up working as geological surveyors, while others work in the commercial sector for oil, coal, and gas companies. </li>
<li>Others pursue fulfilling careers as museum curators, geoscientists, and oceanographers.</li>
</ul>

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

Black Stripes
@bstripes

Fix Your Social Profile And Make People Follow You

The Step-By-Step Guide to Finding Your Niche and Target Market

How To Make Content a More Effective Part of Your Sales Funnel - Content Marketing Institute

Becoming Nimble at Dealing with Ever-Changing Plans - zen habits

Cinematography: Understanding Lighting in Film

Bite-sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

Black Stripes@bstripes

Fix Your Social Profile And Make People Follow You

The Step-By-Step Guide to Finding Your Niche and Target Market

How To Make Content a More Effective Part of Your Sales Funnel - Content Marketing Institute

Becoming Nimble at Dealing with Ever-Changing Plans - zen habits

Cinematography: Understanding Lighting in Film

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

Black Stripes
@bstripes