Simple everyday Life Hacks

I Thought I Finally Knew All The 'Life Hacks' Out There. But These 23 Proved Me Wrong... YES!

Using duct tape. Charging your phone. Hanging your clothes. Keeping chips fresh. ... 
all of these things are just some of the terrible rigors of everyday life. How do we 
manage our lives with dealing with such time-consuming and mind-bending tasks? 
But fear not! There are ways you can complete these horrendous tasks while still
 being able to enjoy your life! (In all seriousness, though. These super simple,
 everyday life hacks may make your life a lot easier.)

1.) Use a Post-It note to clean your keyboard.

2.) Use toilet paper tubes as starter pots.

3.) Use paper clips to find the end of a roll of tape.

4.) Use a dry strand of spaghetti to light hard-to-reach candles.

5.) Hide emergency money in a sanitary napkin pouch. No one will steal that.

6.) Cut open a tennis ball. It will now hold almost anything.

7.) Use paper towel and toilet paper tubes to organize cables.

8.) Charge your phone while in airplane mode.

9.) Pop can tabs can help layer hangers.

10.) Use the spring from a pen to strengthen cords.

11.) Plug your devices into a power strip. You pay for "vampire charges" when your electronics are plugged into the wall, but aren't being used. Power strips prevent this.

12.) Use a bobby pin to get ALL of your toothpaste.

13.) Cheap pants hangers from stores create awesome bag clips.

14.) Here's how to tie a tie.

15.) Keep your pet food fresh and handy in a pitcher.

16.) Use shower curtain hooks to organize purses.

17.) Fill a container with coffee beans and use as a handy makeup brush storage.

18.) Freeze grapes and use them to cool down wine without watering it down.

19.) Put a lazy susan in the fridge.

20.) Make hash browns in a waffle maker.

21.) Put a laundry basket in the tub with baby, it'll keep the toys organized.

22.) Dental floss can cut cakes, cheeses and other soft items.

23.) Empty paper egg cartons can help cool down your laptop.

All of these are easy to complete and should help you out quickly! (Aside from the toilet paper tube starter pot. That won't magically turn you into a green thumb, but it's worth a try.) Hopefully, these hacks helped you! If they did, pass on the goodness and share them with others.

11 Powerful Strategies For Explosive Business Growth

Starting a business is difficult, there’s no doubt about it.

But sustaining, nurturing, and growing a business is far more difficult than simply starting one.

Starting a business is just laying out ideas, which always seems very fascinating during the initial phase. But when you actually jump into the swamp, only then do you realize all of the facts.

Many start a business with guns blazing, but the majority of them don’t last long (or we can say that they “fail to sustain”). On the other hand, some entrepreneurs enter the market, conduct a failed experiment, and then come back stronger and mightier.

What is the difference between the two? Which approach should you choose so that your business sustains and grows over an extended period of time?

Allow me to make it simple for you.

Remember this bold statement:

• “Half the war is won in the mind even before the war gets started.”

Wise words.

That statement prevails because whether you will lose a battle or win a battle is already decided based on the strategy that you design for the battle.

That same rule applies to business too.

1. Planning Is Everything

Irrespective of the size of the enterprise, planning is regarded as the spine of every business. If you wish to be victorious, even you need to strengthen your spine.

Before you set sail, ensure that you have a working plan.

It is extremely dangerous to plan after you have started. When you are thinking of starting a business, ensure that you follow the steps mentioned below:

• Choose a business vertical that you understand: Choosing a business vertical that you already know about provides you with a competitive edge in the market. Moreover, as you already have an understanding about it, it saves a lot of time and effort which reduces the chances of failure.
• Conduct a personal survey: You may have all of the required knowledge, but investing some time in conducting research won’t hurt either. Examine the current market scenario of your desired business vertical. Analyze what problems your desired business solves and analyze what prevailing solutions are currently offered in the market. Make a note of them and brainstorm what makes your solution better than the rest.
• Conduct market research: Pay close attention to the businesses that function in your desired business vertical. Analyze what they are doing in terms of quality, customer retention, marketing, growth, etc. This will help you to understand what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong. This way, you can see what’s working and you can avoid making some of their mistakes. 
• Collect the money: You will need money. Once you have analyzed all of the above, initiate thinking about the capital you will require to get going. This should include all money-related aspects such as:
  • the cost of evolving the prevailing solution
  • the cost of all legal formalities
  • the minimum operating cost
  • the cost of the resources you will require
  • the sum total of the wages that you will need to pay employees
  • the minimum marketing budget
  • Also, consider some miscellaneous calculations (because you never know how random a situation might get).

2. Proofreading

Once you have all of the above in hand, start compiling them to make it look like a proper business plan. After the compilation, proceed to proofreading. This is a very essential step as you do not want have any missing links in your business plan.

Proofread your plan thoroughly so that you can pin point each and every element. Perform this activity over and over again because once is never enough.

You will discover a lot of shortcomings in your plan after performing this activity. Now that you know where your plan is falling short, start improving it.

Entrepreneurs are usually very excited about their ideas and plans which results in overlooking the fatal flaws.

But what if you are not a good proofreader?

That’s where #3 comes in.

3. Have A Mentor

Many successful entrepreneurs seek advice from their mentors. There are quite a few reason for this.

• They see what you don’t: This comes in handy for the above point (proofreading). A mentor is the right person to share your plan with. Your mentor won’t overlook the shortcomings. They will act as a moderator for you and your business plan. They see everything objectively, which is whythey are more likely to discover flaws. This practice is very good because you can go back and work on improving these shortcomings.
• Their advice is logical: You always want a mentor who has more knowledge and more experience than you do. They have the knowledge, the experience, and the ability to sense what a customer needs. This will make them more valuable when giving feedback and advice.
• They are morale boosters: Irrespective of whether others stand by you or not, a real mentor will never leave you. Mentors are always backing up their mentees. It doesn’t matter whether you need a proofreader, a consultant, or just a pal to support you, they are always there when you need them.

4. Plan About Hiring

Hiring is one of the most important skills that you should strive to master.

If you have the right team, the chances of your business being successful are multiplied.

Plan out the kind of manpower you will require and in which phase you will require them. Strategize about how you will source them and what will be the eligibility criteria.

When the hiring process begins, be an active member of the hiring process. You can outsource your hiring or have an in-house team of recruiters, but ensure that every candidate passes through your vigilance.

Hire people who have the attitude of working hard and working smart (aka “A or A+ players”) because they are the ones who will help you in achieving your target.

5. Strategize Marketing Phases (Plan ahead)

The market research which you had conducted earlier can now be used to your advantage.

You have learned what you competitors are doing and how they are doing it. Now it is your turn to design a fool-proof marketing plan.

Eliminate or innovate those aspects of marketing which your competitors are failing at and infuse these areas with your brilliant marketing plan.

When creating a marketing plan, take these points into consideration:

• Who/what is your target audience?
• What is the age of your target audience?
• What language does your target audience communicate in?
• Where will you find your target audience?
• How will you reach your target audience?
• What and how much geographical area should you cover?
• What sort of marketing platform should you leverage?

These are some crucial questions that you should ask yourself when planning out your marketing strategy. Once you have the answers, design a marketing plan that revolves around them and move towards deciding the phases of marketing.

You cannot go crazy here. You have to limit your marketing activities according to phases.

For instance, the initial marketing phase might be more inclined towards creating brand awareness or encouraging pre-orders/pre-bookings. The next phase will concentrate upon gathering the customer base and interacting with the masses in helping them to make a buying decision.

Likewise, you will have to plan out the next phases too. When pursuing these phases, it’s important to understand that you need to be persistent.

With all of this in mind, you also need to acknowledge your limitations. If you think you are not the right person to carry out the marketing activities, then hire someone who is capable of managing it.

But ensure that everyone is on the same page.

Transparently share your ideas, views, expectations, etc. The person responsible will take it from there, but that doesn’t mean your job is over.

Keep a check on their activities to ensure that you are always aware of what’s happening.

6. Decide Phases Of Launch

This may not be applicable for every business, but for those where it is, it’s important to plan the launch phases.

You simply cannot bombard people with all of the elements that you have planned to launch at once.

It has been observed that “too much of something is always dangerous” and this same observation applies to business. This is not only bad for consumers, but for you too. When you try to launch everything at once, you invest a lot of money, time, effort, etc. Moreover, when you do that, you are not even sure if your ideas will have value in the market.

This approach may encourage consumers to leave your site and visit your competitors’ sites. When you launch everything at once, it is difficult for consumers to navigate through so many options at once.

This is basic human psychology. When consumers are provided with numerous options, they can end up becoming overwhelmed and buying nothing.

This makes it even more risky to launch everything at once.

To overcome this problem you can always choose the alternate (and likely more “bankable”) path:

• Plan out the launch phases.

Example: When you are launching your online shopping portal, enter the market with only the basics. Have a beta version and introduce it to the market. Make it simple, yet elegant. The consumer should not be confused with their choices nor should they be confused about navigating through your site.

The biggest advantage of launching this way is that you aren’t risking much.

Even if it doesn’t hit, there has been little lost and recovery is easy.

But, if you wish to avoid even this small amount of risk, then you should focus on #7 below.

7. The Floating Period

“Criticism is good for growth.”

Many people don’t like criticism, but a good businessperson takes criticism and comes out stronger.

The floating period starts the day you launch your business and continues for a limited tenure.

Consider this as the testing phase for your business; who else could be a better tester than the consumer? This is the time when you collect feedback from the consumers and act accordingly.

You will likely have numerous bugs in your product/service (and in your business model as well). When you launch the first phase of your business, consumers often criticize some aspects or provide suggestions (which you should acknowledge and make the required changes).

When you start listening to consumers, you understand the reality of the situation and learn what people actually want from you and your business.

During the floating period, this is a natural phenomenon.

Do not get frustrated; instead, work on the details to make your product/ service even better so that the consumers can enjoy using them.

8. Improvising/Improving 

continue reading here...

source: ShoutMeLoud

Pokemon Go's mental health benefits are real

"The research is really, really clear on this."

Dr. John Grohol is an expert in technology's impact on human behavior and mental health, and for the past 20 years he's studied how people operate online. He's the founder of mental health network Psych Central, and he knows all about the latest tools aimed at helping people deal with anxiety, depression and a host of other issues.

And Grohol has never seen anything like Pokemon Go.

"In terms of the phenomena of people expressing the benefits of playing the game to their real-world mental health status, I think that's very unique and it's the first time I've ever seen anything like that," he says.

Twitter is flooded with stories about Pokemon Go's impact on players' anxiety and depression, with thousands of people lauding the game for getting them out of the house and making it easier to interact with friends and strangers alike. These simple acts are crucial milestones for anyone struggling with depression, Grohol says.

"The challenge has always been, if you're depressed, your motivation level is nonexistent," he explains. "So, you want to go out and get some fresh air, or even take a shower, and it can be a very difficult thing to even comprehend, much less do. I think the impact of something like this, this game, can really be beneficial."

This isn't hippie nonsense: Research demonstrating the positive effects of exercise on people's moods goes back at least 20 years, Grohol says.

"The research is really, really clear on this, that the more you exercise, the more it would help decrease feelings of depression," he says. "It actually works as an anti-depressant and it has a really, pretty strong effect. It's probably one of the most beneficial things a person with depression can do, especially if they're not accessing other types of treatments, such as psychotherapy or medication."

Plus, walking around helps much more than your mental health: It can also help people lose weight, stay in shape and build overall healthier bodies. In this case, what's good for the body is also good for the mind.

Roughly 43.8 million adults in the United States experience mental illness every year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. That's one in five adults. The video game community is a magnet for people living with untreated anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses, says suicide prevention organization Take This. The industry itself is volatile, and it attracts particularly creative and highly educated people -- factors that can contribute to a perfect storm of untreated mental illnesses.

Russ Pitts, the co-founder of Take This, says that hundreds of clinicians and advisers have told him the same thing over the years: Generally, the more educated or technically sophisticated a person is, the less likely he or she is to seek help for mental issues.

"The sense is that because it's a mental issue and they're highly skilled in mental areas, they can think their way out of it," Pitts says. "And a lot of people try that, and it doesn't work."

Here's where Pokemon Go can help. It isn't presented as a tool to help treat anxiety or depression; instead, it's a game that happens to cultivate healthy behaviors.

"It helps a person not even think of it as helping their mood because it's not targeted toward their mood. It's a game," Grohol says. "Because of the way that they've created the gaming dynamics, they've actually created a very strong reinforcement for people to go out and become more active."

But for all of its achievements, Pokemon Go has limits. It may be a wonderful motivator for players to leave their houses, get some light exercise and meet new people, but it isn't a substitute for professional treatment, Grohol says.

"I wouldn't recommend people look at this sort of game or any video game as an opportunity to treat a serious mood disorder, such as chronic depression, solely with a video game," he says. "I think it's a great adjunct to other kinds of treatment, such as psychotherapy and medication, but it should not be the sole treatment that person is using to try and help their depressed mood."

Pokemon Go can be an introduction to self-care, but it's not a cure. It's not even foolproof as a video game: Server outages have plagued Pokemon Go since its launch in early July, and the game doesn't extend to some remote regions across the country. If someone is using Pokemon Go as a healthy habit motivator and the game simply doesn't load one day, that can be a crushing blow. Similarly, someone who already feels isolated won't receive help from seeing their Pokemon trainer surrounded by miles of nothing, not even a stray Rattata.

continue reading here...

source: Engadget

Cydia Guide!!

Howdy Bloggers,

Do give a visit to my new Blog on Cydia, Jailbreaking & Iphone hacks.

Iphone users should definitely visit here to learn about jailbreaking their iphone so that you can use various apps,themes,play games,tools,tweaks etc that Apple doesn't offer in the Appstore.

Here you'll get to know about each and every thing related to iphone, ios, cydia, jailbreak and everything else.. 

Hope you like my new Blog.

If you like it then "HIT THE SHARE BUTTON"

The 20 Biggest Benefits of Blogging

20 years ago, blogs didn’t exist. Today, there are over 150 million of them.

Still, I get a lot of puzzled looks when I tell people that having a blog is the single most important thing a business, cause, or person can do to advance online. Even though ‘blogging’ has hit it big, most people don’t get what makes blogging so powerful, helpful, and beneficial.

To put an end to that, I’ve compile a list of the 20 biggest benefits of having a blog below. If you’re among the uninitiated, prepare to be enlightened. If you’ve already started a blog of your own (as I assume many of you Income Diary readers do) then you can consider this an affirmation of why you do what you — and a good place to direct people who still think that a blog is just a pointless public diary. There are many perks of having a blog as you will see.

The 20 Biggest Benefits of Blogging

#1 Get a Better Job

According to MediaBistro, nine in ten companies mine online profiles before making a new hire. Employers want to hire people who have a strong online influence:

“Determining influence is so critical to brands because this is what drives word of mouth validation – typically the most powerful and cost-effective marketing method available.”

Mark Schaefer, from an interview on Inc.com

Put simply, employers prefer to hire people with a positive online influence and blogging is the single best way to achieve that.

#2 Start a New Business

Sometimes a blog starts out as a hobby only to become a full-time business.

That’s what happened to Pat Flynn, who created a blog called Green Exam Academy simply to share his thoughts and insights on architecture. When Flynn was laid off from his job, he decided to take his blog a little bit more seriously and about one year later the blog had become a $100,000 per year business.

That type of growth isn’t typical. But Flynn’s story is a great example of how a simple blog can be the foundation for a thriving business if you’re willing to commit to it.

#3 Get More Clients to Your Existing Business

Static websites don’t attract many new clients or customers. But a regularly updated blog can produce a constant stream of good leads from all around the world.

When you publish in-depth blog posts that help potential clients/customers solve their problems, they come to trust you and respect you as an expert in the field. If they want more help than a blog post can offer, then they’re likely to be interested in hiring your business.

I know that this is Neil Patel’s primary revenue model for Quicksprout and I’ve also used it to good effect for my video business.

#4 Become a Better Writer

The only way to become a better writer is to write – pages and pages, day after day.

Of course, that’s exactly what an active blogger spends his or her time doing. The more you blog, the more you write – and the better writer you become.

#5 Become a Published Author

The publishing business isn’t what it used to be and publishers are less likely than ever before to take a chance on an unknown author.

They would much rather give a contract to an author with a built-in audience of readers – and that’s where having a blog comes in. So keeping a blog isn’t just a good way to become a better writer, it may be your fastest path to becoming a published writer.

#6 Get Immediate Feedback

An author has to wait months between finishing his/her book and reading the reviews, but bloggers get to read their readers’ comments the same day they click ‘publish’.

This makes blogging a great way to get feedback on an idea that you want to develop further. Having an outside perspective and a little bit of constructive criticism is invaluable.

#7 Learn More About a Group of People

Bloggers spend most of their time sharing their ideas and insights with their readers. But if you listen, you’ll find that your readers share a lot with you too.

I learn a lot about the readers on Income Diary from your comments, your tweets, and your posts on the forums. That information helps me to know what type of posts to write and I know that it also helps Michael determine what products to develop that will help his readers the most.

Knowing about your audience is invaluable (this is why companies spend so much time and money testing out their products in focus groups). As a blogger, achieving this type of insight is a natural byproduct of your day-to-day routine.

#8 Gain Influence

What’s the best way to change the world? You could become a politican, activist, or volunteer.

Or you could become a blogger. A successful blogger gains a wide audience of people who trust and respect them.

#9 Establish Yourself as an Expert in Your Field

Anybody can start a blog on any subject they like. So you don’t get a lot of respect just for saying, “I have a website about that.”

But over time, as you write more posts and share more of your expertise, you’re website will change from ‘just another blog’ into a powerful demonstration of your knowledge in a field. When somebody visits your site and sees the insights you’ve shared on a subject, along with the community of people who respect and seek that insight, it will be clear that you’re genuinely an expert in the field.

Being an expert is a good thing. You may get consideration for careers, awards, or consulting opportunities.

#10 Build a Network
Starting a blog is a guaranteed way to expand your network.

First of all, valuable and interesting blog posts attract readers who will then comment on your site and send you personal messages through your contact page. Many of your readers will be asking for help, but others will be looking to help you.

A blog is also a good platform for reaching out to others. Many of the first posts on Income Diary were interviews with experts in the ‘make money online’ community. With every interview, Michael gained a personal relationship with an influential person.

#11 Learn In-Demand Skills

Easy-to-use blogging platforms like WordPress have made it so that a person doesn’t need to have a grasp of computer programming in order to start a blog.

But through the process of blogging, most people learn some HTML and CSS simply because it’s easier to make minor improvements to your site by yourself than it is to hire somebody each time. That’s good news because fluency in web design, HTML, and CSS are highly valued skills in this day and age.

The same can be said for a whole slew of other blog-related skills, such as graphic design, search engine optimization, content marketing, and social media marketing.

#12 Improve Your SEO

Ultimately, search engines want to deliver results that are helpful to their users. When you write a series of in-depth, valuable articles around a topic, Google takes notice.

Each high-quality blog post that you publish is another opportunity to get traffic from search.

#13 Collect Emails

There’s a lot of talk about social media today, but email is still the most reliable way to communicate online. People check their email regularly and they’re used to receiving important updates.

Getting somebody to give you their primary email isn’t easy, but once you have it you have a direct connection with that person. You’ll then be able to get their attention whenever you find something that you think will benefit them or if there’s something important regarding your business or blog that you want to inform them about.

#14 Stay Knowledgeable in Your Field

If you’re looking for an incentive to keep up to date on all of the latest information on a certain subject, starting a blog is a great start. Your weekly quest to put up new content will lead you to always be searching for new information and sharing it with your readers.

#15 Sell a Product

A blog can make for a great virtual store. Michael has made a small fortune selling Pop-Up Domination on Income Diary and other bloggers have found success selling everything from e-books to membership sites.

#16 Talk to Your Idols

I first became an entrepreneur back in 2010 when I helped Nicholas Tart compile a book of interviewswith 25 of the world’s top young entrepreneurs.

One of the entrepreneurs we wanted to interview was Joe Penna, AKA Mystery Guitar Man. Like me, he was a musician and producer of creative online videos. Getting to sit down and talk with him was an inspiring experience that I’ll always remember.

If we hadn’t had a blog, I truly doubt we would have had the online credibility for Joe to take the time and sit down and talk with me.

#17 Express Yourself

This one’s pretty simple: a blog is an expressive medium that can contain words, images, and sounds. Whether your blog is formal business affair or a personal “what-I-ate-for-breakfast-this-morning” diary, blogging is powerful form of self-expression.

#18 Help Others

Every good blog helps its readers. Income Diary does this by offering free information about how to make money online. Other blogs help people lose weight, raise their kids, and come to terms with life-threatening disease. Yet others mobilize groups of people to take action and raise money for important causes.

The power of a blog to educate, inspire, and bring like-minded people together makes blogging a great way to help people.

#19 Build Trust Online

Trust is a rare and valuable commodity online. You can’t buy trust. It has to be earned by demonstrating your commitment to your readers, time and time again.

As it turns out, that’s exactly what good bloggers do by regularly posting valuable, honest articles on their blogs. The more people whose trust you’ve earned, the easier it will be to accomplish your goals online.

#20 Take Control of Your Online Identity

Whether you’re a person or business, there’s probably lots of information about you online. When somebody searches for you online, you want to make sure that they get an accurate and complete picture of who you are and what you’re all about.

Starting a blog that covers all the bases is a great way to control your online identity and make sure that the top result on Google makes a the right first impression.

The Last Word:

After listing the 20 biggest benefits of starting and maintaining a blog, I still feel like I’ve left a lot unsaid. A blog can be more than just a way of advancing your online presence; it can be a way of advancing your life… a platform you create that can propel you forward in the direction of your choice.