Black and White Photography As a Statement in the Art World

Black and white photography, or monochrome photography, occupies a unique place in the world of art and the visual media. It has been around for almost two centuries now, and it still has a little bit of down-looking from the art world. Even though the monochromatic tradition has been around for a couple of centuries, it can be traced back to 6000 years in history when we start to take ink and carbon works into the wider frame. In terms of art itself, photography is very young, so it is just a mere matter of time for it to be excelled into a greater state in the art world.Here is a great fact that will help answering the question why many people diverge between choosing color or monochrome in their work: monochrome photography enhances composition, therefore it gives a stronger message by subtracting the distraction that color inherently has.Composition is a much more complex concept that goes beyond the very well-known rule of thirds. Elements in composition include the following:· Lines· Shapes· Forms· Simplification· Negative space· RhythmAll of these elements aid the photographer to compose a message into a much more pleasant or aesthetic view of reality. The message is something that only exists in the fraction of a second the photographer decides to include into his camera settings. The message is part of the moment that the photographer decides to capture. Therefore, the message is presented better rather the realism that accurate color can render. Color photography is great for many purposes, but when talking about message, its instant punch is quite softer than when it is presented to the viewer in a monochromatic format. The much accepted theory behind this statement, is that color pretends to achieve a greater grade of realism, and that black and white turn apart and pretend to see things differently, and by removing color we have:

Something different from reality

A greater message by removing the distraction that color gives
Another magnificent aspect about black and white photography, is that it has been a very democratic and almost generous medium. Developing black and white film is a work of art and creativity in a much larger scale if compared to color film. The thing is that black and white film can resist much more severe changes in the development procedure (temperature, time of development, time of fixation, etc.) and color film is much more precise work, it is a more delicate chemistry if you like to view into the chemical line. And this was somehow inherited in the digital format by allowing black and white photography to endure more extreme settings when contrasting than color photography. Color photography starts to get weird looks much earlier than black and white when cranking up the controls in RAW development. Even with printing, black and white photography has a richer history than color photography thanks to papers and printing processes.

What Are the Components of a Renters Insurance Policy?

A renters insurance policy protects the contents of a rented property against losses incurred due to theft, fire or damage due to a hurricane and other natural disasters. Renters insurance also offers protection for liability. It pays for liability for accidents, such as a visitor slipping on your floor and breaking an arm. This type of insurance is primarily designed to protect consumers from unexpected financial hardships.Renters policies specifically state what it insures against. There is a standard set of named perils covered by a renters insurance policy. Some of them are fire, lightning, windstorm, smoke, vandalism or malicious mischief, theft and accidental discharge of water due to a burst pipe. It can also include payment for the medical expenses of non-residents. Floods and earthquakes are oftentimes purchased separately from the renters policy in coastal areas and places prone to either. In most cases, windstorm coverage is also purchased as a rider to the main renters policy.Renters policies use two methods of valuation of the home contents, these are the actual cash value and the replacement cost. The actual cash value pays only for what the belongings were worth at the time of the loss. A household appliance worth about $500 three years before will cost significantly lower at the time of loss. On the other hand, the replacement cost will reimburse policy-holders for the actual cost of the property at the time of the loss.Highly expensive items such as jewelry and antique should be declared at the time of purchase as separate policies or rider policies might need to be issued for these items. If highly expensive items are not declared, the policy-holder will not be able to recover the possible losses pertaining to these items.It is wise to inventory all the belongings to ensure adequate compensation for loss. The inventory should include the value and serial number of every item. Policy-holders should also keep the receipts of expensive items in another place, preferably outside of the house to ensure proper documentation and safekeeping.If the dwelling becomes uninhabitable due to a burst pipe or a fire, the insurance policy will pay for additional living expenses. Certain types of rented property have additional benefits. Condominium units usually come with a waterbed liability provision so that in the event that a waterbed bursts, the policy will cover the water damage caused to the unit under the policy-holder’s package. In terms of pets, there are insurance providers that do not underwrite renters policies for customers owning certain dog breeds.A renters insurance policy is an effective way of protecting the property and its occupants from unforeseen expenses. Paying for the rent might take its toll on a person’s purse and making sure that no additional and unexpected expense comes one’s way to add more financial burden would be a wise move.

Why Automotive Logos Differ From Country to Country

The fact that automotive logos differ from country to country is true it’s not only the automotive logos that differ. This phenomenon is happening due to a lot of factors not only for identification on the production lines to know which car is for which country.As the same model cars differ in specs for different countries, and gets marketed under a different name. Why do the specs differ from country to country? There are a lot of reasons and a lot of petrol heads don’t believe this.This was a big discussion in my workshops already when imported cars came in for repairs in the past. When you inform the customer you can’t work on his car due to the fact it was imported into this country. Normally he will tell you it is only the automotive logos that differ because that was what the salesman informed him.If the software differs on a car your diagnostic tool don’t even enter the cars software, to do a diagnostic on the car. The next thing you need is a spare and it is not available in your country. That is normally the point the customer starts to realize it is not only the automotive logos that differ on the car it’s a lot more and the salesman lied to him.That is the point the owner of this car wants to know how it works.• Firstly the automotive software on the car will differ for various reasons; different countries have different driving conditions. This means temperatures, altitudes, fuel mixtures and even the drivers and driving styles.• The whole setup for the country you are in must be build into the car in the factory. For instance your specs on cars differ from the northern hemisphere to those in the southern hemisphere.• Your country authorities lied down all the specs for cars that can be driven in your country so that gets specially built into the car. In South Africa all vehicles that get imported into the country must have an approved number issued by the C.S.I.R our quality controlling board.• If you have a manufacturer of a car in your country or a register importer they will be the only ones that will get cars with the right specs for your country. Because they have the distribution rights in that country and they must be protected. This is not only for cars it work the same on all products.• In South Africa if they found any product in the country that doesn’t adhere to the laid down spec’s it gets destroyed.• So if a car’s automotive logos differ from the rest it is easy for the authorities to spot it.That is why automotive logos do differ all over the world in one country a car goes under a name. In another under a different name even if the look the same, and came from the same production line.

The Need For Higher Education

Receiving an undergraduate degree in business is the first step in the process. Undergraduate degrees allow many individuals to enter their field of choice with relatively stable jobs and at times, allow them to advance to higher positions after gaining experience. However, in some cases, an individual may not advance in a business because of the lack of higher education.To reach higher positions, businesses are looking for individuals who are well experienced and educated. So, what should you do? Well, it depends on what you want to do in a business and it depends on the business. For some, experience is all you need to climb the business ladder. For other businesses, education is needed. If you need higher education, then you should consider getting an MBA or MBM, depending on your field. Receiving higher education of this type will distinguish you from other individuals, increase your ability to attain higher positions and wages.Since higher education is in high demand, you may wonder why it’s so important for the job. Here are few reasons why higher education is needed for business:-Concepts discussed and learned in school may not be covered in on-the-job experience. It’s best to learn the concepts and then match them with experience. This will increase your potential to make the best decisions at the right time in a field.-Education also provides training for certain circumstances. Learn how to react in different situations before you get into a field and make major decisions that affect the entire business. Make mistakes without huge consequences and learn from those mistakes for future reference.-Learn more about your specific field and how you can improve strategies and business models. Education can enable you to think of new ideas that are worth sharing with a business.-Expand on the skills you already have by attaining more in-depth knowledge of the subjects.-Network with classmates and build business partners for the future. Collaborate and learn together, and then enter the business field with new contacts and networks.Higher education leads to a great future in business. Not only does it prepare you for the business world ahead, to climb to success, but it allows you to join other professionals and develop relationships with some of the best business people. Get educated from the best, meet some of the best in the field, and find your future in the business world with the skills you develop in school.

What Are The Benefits Of Personal Branding

Benefits Of Personal Branding

There are many benefits of personal branding within any business venture. From the onset, of your business creating a brand/logo should be a priority to ensure you stand out and separate yourself from the masses over other related businesses.

Researching multi-million or even multi-billion dollar industries, personal branding is an application that has been proven and shown remarkable results. As an example regardless of the owner of franchises such as McDonald’s, the golden arches remain constant and recognizable to throughout all McDonald’s worldwide. The golden arches have become the brand of the business. These same concepts should be the applied within your business plan.

Personal Branding For Success

In order to create a strong business brand utilize the thought process of building strong brands. Put a considerable amount of time into selecting your brand. Once you’ve determined your brand image stick with it, this is key in the importance of branding yourself for success. It is essential for your business, to create a positive image in the minds of potential customers. Personal Branding Why Should You Brand There are some key reasons in regards to “why brand”? Some of the main reasons you should choose personal branding are:

to build a strong presence
put and image/face to the company
create “likeability” surrounding your brand
define your business’ purpose
differentiate you/your brand from the numerous others in your niche
Personal Branding Establishing Yourself As An Expert In Your Niche

On a daily basis, there are several new businesses opening both online and offline, in either circumstance strong personal branding is essential to your presence, visibility and success. Creating your business, be sure you are branding yourself and not the company product you represent. The main reason for doing so is if you want to add another product, you don’t have to begin to create a new brand. Establishing yourself as an expert within your area will allow you the ability to offer more than one service or product. As long as you stay within your niche, you will continue to brand yourself as an expert within that field.

Personal Branding Through Syndication

Once you’ve established your brand image, you must begin to create traffic to your site. One of the easiest and most cost effective ways is through article marketing for SEO (search engine optimization). Each article should then go through a process of content syndication. There are a couple of tools to utilize to make this process as automated as possible. These tools are:

OnlyWire – “send your content to the top social sites with the push of a single button”
TribePro -” a simple and powerful tool that allows your message to be shared across unlimited social networks without lifting a finger.”
Be sure to brand yourself and not the company when creating your online or offline presence.

A Brand to Die For

I am often asked, “What does it take to create a successful marketing campaign?” The reality, at the heart of it all, is the client’s brand essence; how that brand is represented and how to and perceived by the market. All successful marketing and advertising strategies spring forth from this basic tenet – brand essence.

What qualities does the brand stand for? What can the brand do for me, as a consumer, or member? How can the brand enrich my life or otherwise provide me value?

These are some of the questions that consumers silently ask themselves as they interact with the messages and touchpoints that are related to your brand.

But what does it take to create a brand that people identify with, support or spend their money on? How does one create a brand…well, to die for?

As a Social Intelligence Architect, I must continually hone my skills for the benefit of my clients. This means always advancing my understanding of social and communication dynamics. As a result, I can create effective messaging scenarios derived from a strong brand essence. The result is targeted traffic and ultimately sales, for my clients.

The agencies that represent entities like Nike, Target, Dell, Microsoft and countless others understand social and communication dynamics and deliver prime examples of successful brands. But other brands which you probably wouldn’t even consider (yet are perhaps even more influential), can illustrate the power that a brand can hold and deliver within a given marketplace.

The Most Powerful Brands You Would Never Think Of

You wouldn’t normally think of the Hell’s Angels, the Latin Kings or the Mexican Mafia as “brands,” but they most certainly are. In fact, these brands exhibit some of the strictest brand management strategies in existence and it’s paid-off for these entities in event the most turbulent of times.

The Hell’s Angels, for example, are a legitimate California business entity known as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation (HAMC); replete with corporate bylaws and yes, a very well-known brand. HAMC, in the past has brought suit against market giants like the Walt Disney World Company over infringement of their brand. HAMC is very strict – even with their own members – as to how the HAMC logo and related, accompanying patches are to be arranged and displayed. Simply to be allowed to don the coveted official leather vest with logo is even an arduous process that only a select few are offered. And even then, the HAMC logo and patches must be worn in adherence with the corporate guidelines.

The Latin Kings brand is a gold colored 5-point crown on a black background. The 5-points and the black and gold colors all signify specific attributes about the brand (its essence). The 5-points, indeed, represent love, respect, sacrifice, honor, and obedience. Gold represents the sun and a bright future, while the black represents the past.

The Mexican Mafia’s brand is an open hand with the letter inside the palm. The M, of course, signifies the Mexican Mafia and is its established moniker; known and respected the world over.

Each of these organizations has developed a fierce following from both “internal” members and “external” admirers. Each has a brand management system (and a related code of conduct) which ensures their members utilize and represent the brands in only the ways specified by the entities themselves. Deviation from these brand management and conduct guidelines can result in death.

Truly, these are brands that people die for. But why?

In no way am I condoning gangland-style tactics or illicit activities, nor am I suggesting the use of violence, fear, or intimidation in your customer loyalty programs and brand acceptance strategies.

All sociological arguments aside, there remains an interestingly powerful component to these brands. Never mind that inculcated members have replaced their allegiances to God, country and family with allegiance to the brand and all that it encompasses. The real take-away from this striking analogy is the weight that each of these brands carry to those who are not gang members, but yearn to be.

The answer to creating a brand that people identify with, support or spend their money on is born out of a necessity that it helps to fulfill. In the case of these gang examples, their brands evolved to represent solutions to their “consumers’” needs; the need to be accepted, the need to have shelter, the need for protection, etc…

Branding – What It’s All About and Why You Should Do It

Branding is creating something that immediately identifies you or your company. Think of the golden arches of McDonald’s or the Nike ‘swoosh.’ Whenever you see either of those symbols, you know instantly who it is.

What identifies a brand can be anything. It could be a name, logo, motto, symbol, design, jingle, etc. Usually it’s a combination of many. Most people think that ‘brands’ are only for huge multi-national corporations that everybody knows, but this isn’t true at all. Everybody needs a brand, even if you’re just a tiny website or a small business.

The point of branding is to get your fans and prospects to see you as a solution to their problem. It’s about creating an image in their mind of what your company or website’s all about. Branding is part of carving out your unique niche in the market.

Why You Should Care About Branding

The main reason you should care about branding is that you’re already doing it even if you don’t realize it. Your brand is a natural extension of your reputation. As soon as you’re open for business, the branding begins. The only difference is that if you’re not actively building your brand, you’re not in control of it.

Branding is important mainly because of the recognition it creates. Something as small and insignificant as a little logo can communicate powerfully to millions of people. You can see examples of it everywhere – when you see the Starbucks symbol from down the street, you can smell the coffee brewing already.

Brands also create loyalty. Look at all of the clothing brands that have massive followings. Some brands do nothing more than print T-shirts with their name on it and people shell out lots of cash to buy them.

Your brand creates a lasting impression in the minds of your fans. This is how they remember you, and they attach all of their experiences with your company to this symbol or design.

How To Do Branding The Right Way

If you have any customers at all, you’re already branding but you may not realize it. It’s important to take control of your brand and here are some ways to do it.

Online branding is a little bit different from offline. Since the Internet is all about information, good online branding involves establishing yourself as an expert in your niche. You want people to see you as a trusted source of accurate and helpful information. Think of it this way – no matter what you’re selling online, you’ll be known for the information you provide.

You can boost your brand by offering only quality goods and services. This is especially important if you’re trying to build a long-term relationship with a subscriber list or fan base. If you try to pass off a garbage product on them even once, this can really ruin your reputation. When people see your brand, they should think, ‘This is a site that never lets me down.’

Finally, you can grow your brand online by making connections and building relationships. This is especially important with the rise of social media and social networking sites. Get out there and socialize so that you can let people see what a friendly and helpful soul you are.

360 Degree Assessments: 10 Benefits to Managers

Without exception, persons in management positions can benefit significantly from a 360 degree assessment conducted by an outside consultant or coach. This type of assessment provides managers with an unfiltered view of their “performance” in the workplace according to a selected group of employees who represent several or all layers of the organization. The hired third party interviews (face to face or by phone) up to ten staffers, using a standardized set of pre-established open-ended questions approved by the manager. After the interviews are completed, the consultant or coach prepares a comprehensive summary of the common themes and trends, carefully protecting each employee’s privacy. The following is a list of the major benefits to such an assessment:1. The manager learns how staff view her daily behaviors.This piece of the final report shows the manager exactly how her know-it-all attitude or inaccessibility affects her employees. It provides her with examples of how her anger problem stifles morale, how her silent treatment creates fear, or how her constant interrupting during conversations shuts people down.2. The manager receives evidence of his strengths.In this section of the report the manager reads a comprehensive list of his strengths according to the staff who were interviewed. In addition, the manager learns what he does better than anyone else his employees have ever known throughout their careers as well as specifically what they count on him for.3. The manager gains insight around her weaknesses.This section reports obvious weaknesses as identified by the staff. This is where a failure to serve as a credible, steady resource to employees shows up. It’s where gossiping or lack of genuine interest in people gets mentioned.4. The manager receives feedback about certain aspects of his professional image.This piece discusses the manager’s body language, speech, dress, approachability, character, integrity, likability, and confidence. Employees have been given the opportunity to weigh in on these components, citing examples of both positive and negative evidence.5. The manager learns how her staff interpret her frame of mind and world view.In this section the manager reads about whether or not her employees see her as emotionally stable, grounded, solid, fair, supportive, optimistic, and/or generally eager to jump into the day. Managers with great talent and skill are sometimes surprised to learn that staff question their emotional stability or motivation or ability to serve as leaders.6. The manager finds out how his staff see him as a human being.Here the manager reads a detailed, collective description of himself. This can be enlightening and humbling. It’s not unusual for employees to know their manager as a good and decent person who is not capable of leading a department to greatness. But the reverse can be true too. Sometimes employees talk about a boss with noteworthy technical skills who is self serving, self absorbed, and disconnected from others.7. The manager gets a peek at how others view her outside of the department.This piece talks about what staff hear outsiders say about her: persons in other departments, individuals in the community, stakeholders, etc. In this section the manager learns about her reputation as “dictator” or “great boss material” or “openminded”.8. The manager receives information about his impact upon others.Here the manager reads about how he makes employees and others feel when he is around them and interacting with them. He finds out if he makes people nervous and upset or if he inspires them to exceed expectations.9. The manager gets clues about her professional and personal development needs.In this section the manager gains insight around the technical and/or soft skills her staff want her to acquire and implement. As she reads this, she has the opportunity to learn specifically how they think she should grow over the next year or so.10. The manager learns how he influences his employees’ attitudes, work performance, and job satisfaction.This piece allows the manager to read an assessment of his degree and type of influence upon his employees. He may now understand that he either de-motivates people or excites them, throws stumbling blocks their way or finds ways to support them, kills their satisfaction or fuels it.

New Digital Marketing and Lead Generation Marketing Tactics for Converting More Leads in 2017

Facebook Marketing: The Basics of Facebook AdsAs a Marketing Tool Facebook also provides a lot of fun things for people to do. It has applications that can let members interact with each other and it also provides a great way for people to communicate with each other.Facebook is now the hottest social networking website today. It has over 62 million active members and is still continuing to grow to this day. With Facebook, people are able to build networks of friends, keep in touch with their old friends as well as build new relationships.
Because Facebook generates a lot of traffic each day with millions of people either logging in or out or subscribing to new accounts, it has now grown to be one of the best places to market products and services.Today, Facebook is one of the hottest social networking websites available in the internet. Here, you will be able to keep in touch with your friends as well as your relatives and even meet new friends and build new relationships. With all the tools and applications that Facebook has to offer, you will see that it is a lot of fun and it will definitely provide a great way for you to interact with other people with accounts on Facebook.However, you have to consider the fact that Facebook is not only a website that you can use to connect with your friends. It is also a tool that you can use to market the products and services you offer. If you have an online business or you are an internet marketer, you will see that Facebook is the perfect place to market in the internet.With over 62 million subscribers from all over the world, you will see that this website is truly the internet marketer’s dream. So, here are some tips that you can use in order to use Facebook at its full potential and let it help you make a lot of money. The first thing that you need to remember is that once you have a Facebook account, you might want to fill out your profile. Don’t just include your name, age and other basic things, but you need to really fill your profile page. You need to remember that the best profile is often a profile that is fully completed. Once you establish your network, just don’t stay in that circle. Try to interact with other people within your industry. This is a great way to build new relationships and is also a great way to market your products or services as well as your business website. To do this, you might want to join groups related to your profession. This way, you will be able to meet people that are also interested in what you have to offer.You have to remember that Facebook is all about connecting and interacting with other members. So, you shouldn’t be shy. Try interacting with other members. Once you establish a relationship, then you will be able to expand your network and improve your marketing strategy. In internet marketing, getting targeted traffic is the key to success. If you have a Facebook profile page, you might want to make a unique profile page in order to catch other people’s attention. Try adding some applications, such as games and add some videos as well as syndicate your blog website using RSS. By doing these things, you will be able to provide people with lots of fun things to do in your profile page. These are some of the things that you need to do in order to successfully market in Facebook. Always remember that getting people to view your profile page is the key to success in Facebook marketing.Through these tips, you can be sure that you will get a lot of viewers in your profile page and increase the chances of getting them in your business website or get them to buy your products or services. Remember these tips, and you will see that you will be able to become successful in marketing in Facebook. Always remember that you need to work hard in order for you to become successful in Facebook. It’s so popular among internet marketers that Facebook developed an ads system called the Facebook Ads. Basically, the Facebook Ads is a pay per click program offered to marketers in Facebook. The great thing about Facebook Ads is that it is very affordable and you will never worry about spending too much money on advertising without getting any return on your investment.If you have a small budget and you are currently experimenting with your marketing strategy in order to know what is going to work for you and the products or services you are offering, then Facebook Ads is perfect for you. You need to consider the fact that spending a lot on pay per click ads can have a negative impact to your business. Here are some things that you need to consider in high cost advertising. The first thing you need to remember when you are investing in advertising is that you have no idea if the products or services you are offering will convert. You also have no idea whatsoever if there is even a demand for what you have to offer. All in all, you don’t really have any idea what’s going to happen. Now, with this kind of risk, why would you setup a 100 dollars a day budget for pay per click advertising when you can get it at face book for only 10 dollars a day. When you are just starting and experimenting with your ad campaign, this is a great way to do it. If it works out and you want more targeted traffic, you can increase your budget up to 20 dollars.From there, you can just move your budget up. If the ad didn’t turn out as expected, you can always improve it without increasing your budget. Always remember that spending more is not really a good thing especially when marketing is concerned. You have to remember that making huge jumps in the internet is not really how it’s done. Start out small and work your way up. It may take time, but with this method, you will see that you will have little to lose and everything to gain. When advertising in Facebook Ads, try to test your advertising for your products and services for a week or two with an affordable budget. By doing this, you will be able to find out what works and what doesn’t. This is how you advertise in Facebook Ads. As you can see, Facebook Ads will provide a way for you to advertise in the internet without spending too much money. Always remember that when internet marketing is concerned, there is nothing wrong in starting out small.

What Is Market Research Why Is It Important to Business Success?

Launching your product? Want to know what the market is all about now? What does the data say about the current market status? Is it a good time for your product to be launched? Will the audiences perceive your product? How different it is from other products? These questions might arise in your mind always. For that there is a solution which is called Market Research.
What is MarketResearch?
It is the process of assessing the market for the launch of new products with conducting a thorough research directly with the consumer. This lets the company to identify its target market and gather statistics and data from the opinions gathered from consumers regarding the product. Market Research are mostly done by the companies itself or through third parties who are experienced in the market research field. A lot of marketing strategies can be used for market research such as surveys, product testing and directly approaching the consumer groups for their opinions regarding the product.
Now the question is What is the need for MarketResearch?
The purpose of doing market research is to assess the market related to the product or service to gather results how the consumers will react to the product. The companies may try to find out what the consumer likes and what not and where does their product stand between these and how to make it better so that the consumer perceives it. They can remodel the product according to that and bring about changes to the actual product so that it fares successfully in the market after its launch.
How is market research done?
MarketResearch requires a lot of strategies and plans to be implemented to bring out fair amount of results for the company. The companies develops variety of steps with proper planning. It gathers information regarding the market and the company must analyze the data that has been collected to look after the relevant data that can be used later on to bring modifications to the product.
What is the use of Market Research results?
The company which is planning to launch its new product must conduct the market research to find out consumers views and also data regarding the product. These data helps the companies bring changes to the new products. If the company thinks that any alterations is required to bring to the product which may result in bringing success to the product right before or after the launch. To catch the consumers eyes the companies use this data and statistics to make sure the product is worth showing interest for and the consumers will be in benefit.What is the Role of GigIndia in MarketResearch?
GigIndia is the ultimate place for finding people for conducting market research because GigIndia specializes in marketing strategies which is helpful for businesses to become successful and get best results in returns as GigIndia has a huge student workforce who can perform the tasks given to them. Apart from that GigIndia plans everything from how to conduct the surveys, provide test samples to the consumers and also gather their thoughts over certain products and they compile all the information regarding the market research programme and sends them to the company to make sure they find it useful in bringing out any changes by the help of these results.
Nowadays market research is one of the most important tools for every business because it ensures you about the market scenario going around nowadays in the market and having consumers thoughts over a product gives you the proper results as what is the good factor and what is the bad factor about the product. So it is always recommended to conduct a market research always before launching a product in the market and for that GigIndia is the best place to work with.