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In the 21^st century it seems social media is a part of everybody’s lives whether we like it or not. However some people have found that the way they behave on social media has had serious legal repercussions in real life.

Here are some helpful tips to avoid getting in trouble by misusing social networks.

One good tip is to never say anything on social media that you would be unwilling to say to someone in real life. Follow this tip and you will almost immediately avoid making mistakes that fall foul of laws governing bullying, discrimination and defamation.

This is also an excellent way to safeguard your future employment prospects. Behaving like a troll on Twitter, posting inappropriate photographs on Facebook and telling lies on LinkedIn is not likely to impress employers and could cost you dearly in the future.

You should also closely monitor your social media sites and respond quickly if anyone else makes inappropriate posts on any of your accounts.

Security and privacy settings allow you control who is allowed to post to your page in Facebook.

The great majority of B2B firms are always focused on the generation of fresh leads, but the real issue is quality rather than just quantity. You know you have made the right choices when it comes to marketing when the money rolls in and there are methods by which you can improve the overall quality of your leads and convert a greater number of them into actual sales.

One good tip is to start scoring your leads. You can assign points to every lead and make use of terms such as “cold”, “warm” or “hot” to make it clear which leads seem more likely to result in a definite sale. Each lead can also be ranked by a set of characteristics that have been pre-defined.

Allow your sales and marketing team to give their feedback on what they believe constitutes a good lead and that information can be shared between them both. The most appropriate group will then be able to take action based on the interest and fitness of the lead.

Thanksgiving is a time for family togetherness. Of course, sometimes too much togetherness breeds tension, stress, arguments, and the occasional blowup. Whether you’re hosting the dinner or just visiting, remember these tips for staying calm and sane:

• Plan early. Start thinking about Thanksgiving well before the big day so you don’t have to rush to get everything done at the last minute. Check in with guests, or your host, a few days ahead of time to confirm everyone’s plans.

• Get people involved. Don’t try to do all the work yourself. Invite guests to bring dishes (if you’re a guest, volunteer). Recruit your kids to set the table and clear away the dishes. A team effort will make the day more fun for everyone.

• Mix up the guest list. Most families behave a little better if outsiders are present. Include a few neighbors or friends; ask if you can bring a co-worker. A “buffer” will encourage people to be on their best behavior.

• Get out of the house. No rule says you have to hold Thanksgiving at someone’s house. A public setting like a restaurant or hotel can defuse tensions and take the load off. If you are at home, encourage guests to take walks or play outside while waiting for dinner to start.

• Take time to relax. Don’t overschedule yourself. Build some extra time into your day so you can talk to family and friends, enjoy your meal, and genuinely give thanks for being together.

The typical family today puts in a lot more hours a year at work than ever before—frequently by working at two or more jobs. So finding a balance between work and life can be complicated. But balance is essential to our well-being. Here are some ways to get on the right track:

• Simplify. Need help with housecleaning? Consider hiring a cleaning person once a month. Feel like you don’t have enough time? Say “no” to things you don’t want to do or don’t have time to do. Don’t make commitments unless they’re important to you.

• Be grateful. Even in the midst of the most hectic and stressful times of life, there are things for which we can be thankful. Reflecting on the good things in our lives helps keep an all-important balance in our outlook.

• Play with your kids. Get down in the dirt and help the kids make mud pies, watch a movie with them, have a long chat over coffee with your teen, and so forth. Give your family more one-on-one time.

• Pay attention to your health. Maintain a sensible diet and a consistent exercise schedule. If you don’t stay healthy, you’ll be less able to handle the stress of work and home.

• Stop procrastinating. You’ll frequently spend more energy fretting over not doing a project than actually doing it. So eliminate the worry and just get started. Find the right balance in your hectic life

Developing your leadership potential—or someone else’s—is often a matter of identifying and overcoming the common obstacles that prevent people from moving forward. Some are institutional; many are self-inflicted. Keep a lookout for these self-defeating behaviors:

• Lack of goals. Good leaders have a firm vision of where they want to go and how they expect to get there.

• Deceptive self-knowledge. Don’t try to fool yourself and others into thinking that you’re great at everything. Work on spotting your strengths and weaknesses so you can make plans and delegate accordingly.

• Confused ethics. Second-rate leaders think and act as if the world has two sets of rules—one that applies to them and one for everyone else. You’ll be more effective as a leader by holding to high ethical standards at work and elsewhere.

• Selfishness. If you hoard information, resources, or time from others, they’ll learn to do the same, and nobody will be able to achieve important goals.

• Ducking responsibility. As a leader, your job is to make decisions. Don’t try to avoid taking a stand and being accountable for your actions.

• Negative thinking. Concentrate on the positive possibilities. Don’t assume the worst of every plan, or focus on people’s weaknesses and faults.

Business trips are often taxing since those taking them are trying to mix travel with everyday work and one of the major requirements is being able to still have access to the network of your company via laptop, phone or tablet and knowing that you can do so safely and securely, perhaps by a virtualized desktop, VPN, or company or cloud servers. Whatever method you use the key to being able to stay productive while traveling is being able to get the info you require and store your work securely.

Another good tip is to embrace the idea of alternative accommodation on your trip. You do not necessarily have to stay at a corporate hotel and there are many private rental accommodations that are a good deal cheaper while still providing excellent services including cleaning and being met at the airport.

Make sure that you have the right application on your tablet or smartphone to allow you to be able to manage your accounts and any other crucial files in real time no matter where you are. The right software enables you to make crucial decisions without even having to make a call.

Brainstorming – the time-honored tradition of getting people together in an office in order to free associate – has become standard business practice these days but a new study from Yale University has found that more people does not result in a greater number of solutions. In fact, people who try to solve problems all on their own came up with nearly twice as many ideas as those who tried to brainstorm in groups. However the groups tended to come up with better ideas, particularly those that were encouraged to criticize.

The best approach would be a hybrid of individual thinking that then moves to critique and collaboration. You should start off by working alone, which fosters focused thinking and a greater number of ideas. Then you can start to embrace debate and allow team members to challenge one another’s ideas, which can open up potential solutions and brand new ideas. Research has proven that creativity can actually thrive on conflict as there is less pressure to just conform.

It is also a good idea to change the make-up of the brainstorming team every so often to prevent things from getting stale.

Some say that creativity can’t be taught or learned, but experts maintain that certain kinds of practices and behaviors can turn your brain into an engine for ideas. Focus on mastering these basics:

• Connect. Look for associations and links between ideas, questions, problems, and solutions, whether they’re related or not.

• Question. Ask questions that challenge conventional ways of thinking. The best usually start with “why?” or “why not?”

• Observe. Pay close attention to everyday details. Look for the unusual in the commonplace. Find out what other people are doing to solve their own problems.

• Network. Don’t surround yourself with the same group of people all the time. Make friends with experts in all different fields, and tap their brains for their unique expertise.

• Experiment. Try new things. Take a risk. Don’t be afraid to fail, as long as you learn something useful from the experience.

Making mistakes is inevitable in young students during the learning process, but what matters is that those mistakes are picked up on.

It is not enough to point out the mistake but to also understand the reason they were made in the first place.

When a child undergoes a standardized test it is crucial to sit with them and go through their incorrect answers. It is also a good idea to get them to re-work problems that are missed on science and math tests and to get them to rewrite short answer questions and essays based on the feedback they receive from their teachers.

If they are reading, either for school or for pleasure, get them to tell you about the book. Find out if they really understand what they are reading. You might also want to encourage them to look up and find out the meaning of words that they may not have previously been familiar with that they encounter during their read.

When it comes to filling your daycare, the first conversation with new parents  is usually the biggest challenge. You will have less than sixty seconds to show that you are a trustworthy and effective sales rep and all you have is your research and your phone to support you. Fortunately there are some good tips that can help you to hold a good first conversation with a prospect.

One vital tip is to never waste time talking to the wrong person. Make certain that they are the one you need to be talking to who is in charge of the particular field of interest that you are calling in regards to. It is pointless trying to establish a relationship with someone who has no authority in your area.

Another good tip is to get rid of fluff. Do not waste time on small talk such as asking people about their weekend activities. You need to get straight to the point and on with the business of questioning them about their current technologies and working environment.

Do not try to dump your product on them right away. Leave information about your product for a later date and use the first conversation to learn about them and their environment.