Blog - Page 3 of 7 - Emerald Zone

Employee Engagement as a strategy in Organizational success

March 27, 2023 in Business, Professionalism

Employee engagement is a pivotal component of any successful business. Employees who are enthusiastic about what they do are more productive, innovative, and committed to their work, which leads to increased profitability and success for the company. In this article, we will describe employee engagement, why it is essential, and how organizations can improve it.

Employee engagement is defined as an employee’s emotional attachment to their organization and its goals. Employees who are fully invested in their work and willing to go above and beyond to help the company succeed are considered engaged. They are enthusiastic and motivated, and they take pride in their work. Disengaged employees, on the other hand, are those who are emotionally disconnected from their work or the organization, resulting in lower productivity and higher turnover rates.

A highly engaged workforce is a valuable resource for any company, as it aids in the improvement of performance and the achievement of strategic goals. Employees who are engaged are more likely to be productive, innovative, and dedicated to their jobs. They are also less likely to leave the company and have lower absenteeism rates. Employees who are engaged are also more likely to recommend their company as a great place to work, which can aid in attracting top talent.

Disengaged employees, on the other hand, can have a negative impact on an organization’s performance. They may be less productive, less committed, and less likely to contribute to the organization’s success. They may also be more likely to take time off work and look for work.

So, how can business owners boost employee engagement? Companies can employ a variety of strategies to increase employee engagement. To begin, it is critical to ensure that employees feel valued and appreciated. This can be accomplished through continuous feedback, reward schemes, and professional development and growth opportunities.

Second, businesses should foster a positive work environment that encourages teamwork and collaboration. Team-building exercises, regular team meetings, and social events that bring employees together outside of work can help with this.

Third, companies should give employees the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes. Employee surveys, comment cards, and weekly meetings with management to discuss concerns and ideas can all help. Some examples of activities can be found here.

To summarize, employee engagement is critical to an organization’s success, and steps should be taken to increase engagement levels. Communication, recognition, training, employee involvement, work-life balance, and leadership are all strategies that can help create an engaged workforce. By investing in employee engagement, organizations can improve productivity, innovation, customer satisfaction, and employee retention.

You can also read about brands and authors

Code Zone presents Teens and Tech

March 8, 2023 in Uncategorized

It’s March 2023 already and first quarter is almost over, join us as Code Zone Presents Teens and Tech, this is because we are deliberate about our vision of grooming a next generation that will actively participate in the future they are growing into.

Teens & Tech is a virtual conversation platform to enlighten and educate stakeholders of this next generation i.e. parents, Teens, Pre Teens, school administrators etc on the need for the generation to embrace technology. simplee steps that can make impact.

The likes of Mark Zuckerberg. Bill Gates & Jack Dorsey have something in common with Matt Mullenweg, Juliath Brindak, Nick D’Aloisio etc and that is they all started their businesses while they were teenagers. Technology has become more accessible and simplified so we need to nudge our teenagers to embrace it early so they can start the process of becoming active participants in the world they are growing into.

Code Zone is inviting you – as a parent, teenager or school administrator – to join us on Sat. March 11, 2023 by 5.00pm for this webinar on Zoom as we discuss opportunities available in tech that our teenagers can access and begin to leverage.

It’s free but registration https://rb.gy/nffd8m is required so register now.

Revered Nigerian Authors with great writing skills

March 7, 2023 in Uncategorized

Writing skills is a highly revered skill and writing as a profession is an enviable one, writing birth authors and Nigeria has produced an abundance of well-known ones over time. In a serene workspace such as the one Emerald Zone provides, writing is one of the many things that get easily achieved, our appreciation of writers informed our decision to name some of our workspaces after Wole Soyinka, Cyprian Ekwensi, Elechi Amadi, Buchi Emecheta, Flora Nwapa and Femi Osofisan. This write up is therefore dedicated to these renowned writers.

Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka

Popularly known as Wole Soyinka the first Black African man to be awarded the Nobel prize for literature was born on July 13^th 1934. With great writing skills, he is a Nigerian Playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English Language who received the Nobel prize for literature in the year 1986, for “in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtone fashioning the drama of existence. He sometimes wrote of modern West Africa in a satirical style, but his serious intent and his beliefs in the evils inherent in the exercise of power were usually evident in his work as well. Soyinka attended Government college in Ibadan before graduating in 1958 with a degree in English from the university of Leed in England. Upon his return to Nigeria, he founded an acting company and wrote his first important play, A Dance of the Forest produced 1960 and published 1963 for the Nigerian independence celebrations. He also wrote several plays in a lighter vein, making fun of pompous, westernized schoolteachers in The Lion and the Jewel (first performed in Ibadan, 1959 and published 1963). His more serious plays include The Strong Breed (1963), Kongi’s Harvest (opened the first Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar, 1966; published in 1967), The Road (1965), From Zia, with Love (1992) and the Parody King Baabu (performed 2001 and published 2002) reveal his disregard for African authoritarian leadership and his disillusionment with Nigerian society as a whole. His best works exhibit humor and fine poetic styles as well as a gift for irony and satire and for accurately matching the language of his complex characters to their social position and moral qualities. After winning the Nobel Prize, he also was sought after as a lecturer, and many of his lectures were published- notably the Reith Lectures of 2004, as Climate of Fear (2004).

Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi

One of Africa’s best short story writers of the 20^th century and Novelist winner of Dag Hamtuarskjold International Merit award was born at Minna in Northern Nigeria on September 26, 1921. He later lived in Onitsha in the Eastern area. He was educated at Achimota College in Ibadan and at the Chelsea School of pharmacy of London University. He lectured in the pharmacy of Lagos and was employed as a pharmacist by the Nigerian Medical Corporation. Ekwensi married Eunice Anyiwo, and they had five children.

Ekwensi, noted for his great writing skills, began his writing Career as a pamphleteer, and this explains perhaps the episodic nature of his novels. This tendency is well illustrated by people of the city (1954), in which Ekwensi gave a vibrant portrait of life in the West African city. It was the first major novel to be published by a Nigerian. In 1960, two novellas appeared for children; The Drummer Boy and The Passport of Mallam Ilia were exercises in blending traditional themes with undisguised romanticism. Ekwensi was brought into the literary limelight nationally and internationally with his work which dwelled on the complexities of the urban society and the encounters of the rising middle class of urban Lagos in their struggle for survival. From Jagua Nana, 1961, to Jagua Nana’s daughter, a sequel to the former. Ekwensi made a graphic exploration of the life of the ordinary folks and the complexities of their existence. His other books include Burning Grass, 1961, Lokotown and other stories,1966, Divided we stand, 1988, king Forever, 1992, and cash on delivery, 2007.

Emmanuel Elechi Daniel

Popularly known as Elechi Amadi was born on the 12^th of May 1934, in Mbodo-Aluu, in Rivers State, Nigeria, he attended Government College, Umuahia (1948-1952), Survey School, Oyo (1953-1954), and then proceeded to study in the University of Ibadan (1955-1959), where he obtained a degree in Physics and Mathematics. It was while in the university, he adopted the name Elechi Amadi, which he felt reflected his Ikwerre heritage more than his birth name Emmanuel Elechi Daniel. He is an author of plays and novels which is generally about life in the African village, their customs, beliefs and religious practices before the contact to the western world.

Amadi was a writer in residence and a lecture at Rivers State college of education, where he also became dean of Arts, head of literature department and the Director of General Studies. He had his first publication in the year 1957 which was titled “Penitence” in a University of Ibadan Campus magazine called The Horn, edited by John Pepper Clark. Amadi’s first novel, The Concubine which was hailed as “an outstanding work of pure fiction” was published in London in 1966. After critically studying the novel, Alastair Niven wrote: “Rooted firmly among the hunting ad fishing villages of the Niger Delta, The Concubine nevertheless possesses the timelessness and universality of a major novel. The Concubine was later made into a film. Some of his other works include The Great Ponds, published in 1969, Sunset in Biafra, published 1973. In May 2004, a conference was later organized by the Association of Nigerian Authors, Rivers State to mark Elechi Amadi’s 70^th birthday. For his last book, When God Came, Amadi turned for the first time to the genre of science fiction.

Florence Onyebuchi Emecheta

Also known as Buchi Emecheta was born July 21, 1944 in Lagos, Nigeria, an Igbo writer with great witting skillswhose novels deal largely with the difficult and unequal role of women in both immigrant and African societies and explore the tension between tradition and modernity. She began writing stories based on her life including the problems she initially encountered in England. These works where first published in New Statesman magazine and where later collected in the novel In the Ditch (1972). This work was followed by Second-Class Citizens (1974). Both works were later included in the single volume Adah’s Story (1983). Those books introduce Emecheta’s three major themes, they include, the quest for equal treatment, self-confidence, and dignity as a woman. Somewhat different in style is Emecheta’s novel Gwendolen (1989; also published as The Family), Kehinde (1994) and The New Tribe (2000) which addresses the issues of immigrant life in Great Britain. Perhaps her strongest work, The Rape of Shavi (1983) is the most to categorize. Set in an imaginary African Kingdom, it explores the dislocation that occur when a plane carrying Europeans seeking to escape an imminent nuclear disaster crash. Emecheta who wrote an autobiography, Head Above Water (1986), and several works of children’s and juvenile fiction, was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in 2005

Florence Nwanzuruahu Nkiru Nwapa,

Popularly known by her pen name Flora Nwapa is the founder of Tana Press in Nigeria and has great writing skills, the mother of modern African literature was born January 13, 1931 in Oguta, Imo State She was educated in Ogula Port Harcourt, and Lagos before attending university college in Ibadan, Nigeria (1953-1957), and the university of Edinburgh.

Flora Nwapa was the forerunner to a generation of African women writers, and the African woman novelist to be published in the English language in Britain. She achieved international recognition with her first novel Efuru, published in 1966 by Heinemann Educational Books. Flora, while never considering herself a feminist, was best known for recreating life and traditions from an Igbo woman’s viewpoint. She published African literature and promoted women in the African society. Her other books include Idu (1970) which centers on a woman whose life is bound up with that of her husband to the extent that when he dies, she seeks him out in the land of the dead; This is Lagos and Other Stories (1971), One is Enough (1981) and Women are Different (1986). Some of her novels that dealt with the Biafran conflicts include, Never Again (1975), Wives at War and other stories (1980).

Babafemi Adeyemi Osofisan

Popularly known as Femi Osofisan, born 16^th of June 1946 in Erunwon, Ogun State, and was educated at the University of Ibadan, Dakar and Paris. He has great writing skills and has held several posts and won several awards, the most recent, the 2006 Fonlon-Nicholas Award bestowed annually on an African writer for excellence in creative writing and for contributions to the struggles for human rights. won prizes from the association of Nigerian authors (ANA) and was awarded the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) the highest academic prize in the country is a Nigerian Writer.

He is renowned for his criticism of societal issues, as well as for using surrealism and African traditional performance in some of his works. He frequently discusses the struggle between good and evil. A talented Nigerian critic, writer, poet, and dramatist, Femi Osofisan focuses much of his writing on political injustice and corruption. Midnight Hotel, Morountodun, Birthdays are not for the dying, Jagua Nana, Ladies of Owu, Ajayi Crowther, and many more are just a few of the more than 40 plays he has written and presented. His poems Dream Seekers on Driving Chain and Minted Coins were written under the pen name Okinba Launki. Femi Osofisan uses a variety of literary devices in her writing, including irony, humor, dance folktales, fables, and song.

We hope you find inspiration in some or all of their works and achievements, writing is a skill that can be learned, so go for your win. Meanwhile as stated earlier, we provide serene workspace that can help you come up with fantastic material.

Let’s Talk Marketing – 5 Difference between Product and Brand

November 23, 2022 in Uncategorized

Products and Brands have commonly been interchangeably used these are terms that every entrepreneur, organization, establishment will make use of for the life of the business. While a brand cannot exist without the product, the brand goes to become more valuable than the product. Gaining expertise includes understanding and using the right term in writing or in conversations.

According to Statista Apple the most valuable brand in the world is valued at $ 947b as at Sept 2022 and other brands such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft and even Coca Cola, have become top brands that are recognizable by users and non-users. The valuation is not just a summation of the value of the tangibles e.g. for iPhone – the board, screen, microphone etc but a larger part is from the value of the intangibles i.e. perception, popularity, recognition and loyalty.

Definition of Terms

A product an article or substance that is manufactured or refined for sale.it can be physical or in virtual form. Brand refers to marketing concept that helps people identify a particular company, product, or individual.

Every product is made at a cost and each is sold at a price. The price that can be charged however depends on how much work has gone into building the brand. While the product may stay the same in composition, the brand can be relaunched or revamped to create excitement around it among the target market as well as keep it relevant within the segment.

5 Key Differences

As earlier said while brands cannot exist without products but they become more valuable than the cost of the composite elements of the products. According to macrotrends Coca Cola is currently worth $268.47b. It has achieved this through consistency, relevance and emotional connection. Coca-Cola sells the lifestyle, the emotion, and the association of the brand that people can relate to such that it shows enjoying the brand.
Products are GENERIC because anyone can produce it, however brands are UNIQUE and are not supposed to be reproduced without rights from the owners. A trademark is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises. Trademarks are protected by intellectual property rights.
Products satisfy our NEEDS in their barest form e.g. owing a car is a basic need for movement, wearing a shoe or drinking water are basic needs of humans. However, Brands satisfy the WANTS, it isn’t targeted at the basic but the higher level of the desire so e.g. buying a Rolls Royce is not to satisfy the need for movement but for status. In the same vein wearing a red sole shoe nor drinking water from a bespoke bottle has taken it beyond satisfying the need.
While products are MANUFACTURED/ designed, brands are BUILT. Products are a composition of specifications, Detergents, clothes, shoe are produced with specifications, and even Services are delivered with some specification which can be replicated by ‘anyone’. Brands on the other hand are built over a period, the owners support it by making the product deliver on its promise and consistently connecting with the customer.
Products as we can then see are RIGID, it can be likened to science or HTML in coding, products are a result of components or rules. Brands however are DYNAMIC, amenable, flexible which can then be likened Art or to CSS in coding. While consumers use the product they connect with the brand. Today the UAE has earned a reputation of one of the top countries in the world with amazing structures. Brands don’t get built overnight.

Conclusion

It is not enough to have a product, it is really important to build and keep build your brand that is how value is commanded.

Code Zone 2022 Press mentions

September 24, 2022 in Uncategorized

The Press mentions are a testament to the work done by the Emerald Zone team on Code Zone 2022 which did not go unnoticed by parents, participants and now the press. Thanks to all the media houses for the mentions

Code Zone 2022 ends with an ovation from Parents and Participants

September 14, 2022 in Business, Gallery, technology, Training, Upskilling

Code Zone 2022, the annual summer coding program for teens and pre-teens, with this being the fourth edition successfully came to an end on August 31, 2022 and it was amidst a standing ovation from parents and participants of the program.

Before the commencement of the program this year we had significant support from the media Business Day, The Nation Independent, Business Traffic, Trust Africa News, Business Watch

The one month long program that started on August 1^st 2022 had participants register for HTML, CSS & JavaScript classes. Most of the participants had no knowledge of what coding entails neither had they used a code editor before, however within the space of one month they were able to showcase their learnings by presenting website designs in their areas of interest. This year the areas of interest for our participants cut across, Games, Sports, Food, Books, Fashion, Skincare, Movies.

L-R Bolu Babatunde Instructor, Olufunke Akinloye Founder Code Zone for Teens & Pre Teens, Michael Umoren Lead Instructor, Anthony Achoba Instructor at the closing presentation of Code Zone 2022

Olufunke Akinloye, initiator Code Zone, said ‘Every year we feel privileged to have the opportunity to make impact and sow seeds of greatness in the lives of the young ones. Some of our previous participants have become professionals in programming because they upskilled further after the program, this gives us so much joy’.

Code Zone 2022 Final Presentation Day

She also went on to say ‘One of the reasons we have been consistent with quality output showcased through participants’ presentations year on year is the commitment of our instructors led by Michael Umoren and for this we are so grateful’

Emmanuel Olley, 14 a participant of Code Zone 2022 said he enjoyed participating in the program, as he has learnt a lot about HTML & CSS, he has been able to bring his area of interest to life through his project called Diamond wears.

Code Zone 2022 Virtual and In-Person Participants

L-R Bolu Babatunde Instructor, Olufunke Akinloye Founder Code Zone for Teens & Pre Teens, Michael Umoren Lead Instructor, Anthony Achoba Instructor at the closing presentation of Code Zone 2022

Feranmi Ojo, 18, another participant in the JavaScript class, interested in Skin Care expressed gratitude to her parents for registering her for the coding program. She said she has learnt so much building on the limited HTML knowledge she had before joining the program. Now within one month she has mastered HTML, CSS & fast becoming pro in JavaScript.

Accolades from parents were numerous during the closing presentation as they expressed how impressed they are. Mr Fadero a parent of one of the participants said he is amazed how much his son had learnt within the one month of enrolling in the program and he intends to support his child by encouraging him to continue to practice even though the program has ended.

Mrs Gbadebo, another parent with two kids enrolled in the program said ‘One of the things I really appreciate about the program is how intentional the instructors are about supporting the children to acquire the skill, only one of my son was in the program last year, but with what the sister saw him do she insisted she will join the program this year, I cannot say thank you enough to the organizers’.

Code Zone 2022 Participant Presentation

Participants Presentation

Code Zone 2022 had 3 classes hold simultaneously for the one month and just like previous editions they associate each class with programming veterans. The HTML & Cascading Style Sheet in-person class was called Team Wium Lie named after Hakon Wium Lie, a Norwagian web pioneer best known for developing Cascading Style Sheet. The HTML & CSS Virtual class was called Team Berners Lee named after Tim Berners Lee, an English computer scientist best known as an inventor of World Wide Web. The JavaScript Virtual class was called Team Gosling named after James Gosling, best known as the founder and lead designer of Java programming Language.

Class in session

Raising Stars through coding

Emerald Zone has always been proud to power Code Zone annually, as a business advisory organization involved in supporting businesses in areas such as Human Resources, Sales, and Marketing etc. and fully involved in training professionals in various fields, we have taken this as our Social project to upskill the young generation in readiness for the future they are growing into’ said Dapo Akinloye Chief Executive, Emerald Zone. ‘We are indeed proud of what all the children have been able to accomplish and we encourage them to build on what they have learnt with an intention to be the best in what they choose to do.

FASTRACK ACADEMY MANAGER’S DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (MDP) PROGRAM ENDS SUCCESFULLY

May 12, 2022 in Uncategorized

The first cohort of the Fastrack Academy Managers Development Program (MDP) for 2022 successfully ended last month and no doubt left an indelible mark on the minds of the participants. We say this not because we think so, the participants themselves say so.

The class was made up of Managers from different sectors and industry from Engineering to Logistics to Energy Management to mention a few. The class been very interactive made it very interesting for the participants as they could also draw from their diverse work place experiences to relate with real topics of discuss and the various case studies cum modules.

Here are actual comments from the different participants when asked for feedback:

Helen James- Eziashi, a Manager with Ngcom a Telecommunications outfit concisely described the training as ‘Mind blowing’. The Business Development Team lead for Stratagem Energy Company, Opeyemi Bamimore said “the program was very impactful and I recommend for developing organizations.” We agree absolutely with Kolawole Adepiti, a Logistics Operations Officer with Stratagem Logistics who described the sessions as awesome and good for organizational growth. Christian, an Engineer was asked how the class has impacted him. He mentioned among other things that he has learnt a lot about empathy and emotional intelligence. The six weeks program gave renewed enthusiasm to the participants who are very eager to return to their jobs and put to use all they have learnt at, thus becoming better managers- the goal of the program.

The Fastrack Academy Manager’s Development Program (MDP) is designed to empower the manager and other team leaders in supervisory roles to successfully make this important shift and make the goals of the organization realizable. Managerial Effectiveness, Leadership Competencies and Productivity Enhancement are key modules given attention in the course of the program. The instructors are also seasoned experts and industry leaders who have remarkable success leading teams in world class organizations.

The next class for the year begins on the 14^thof May 2022. To find out more and to register click hehttps://fastrackacademy.org/managers-development-program/re .

“Hope is the one gift that life assures”.

March 23, 2022 in Uncategorized

Hope is the one gift that life assures Those are the words of a very close friend of mine. No matter how much life throws at you, always cling to hope. You are most likely reading this on a beautiful Monday from somewhere around the world. How are you? Believe me, I am not trying to just sound clichéd because I genuinely care and really want to know how you are doing . It’s the last month for the first quarter of the year already. The other day I wrote about taking it easy on yourself if the year has not started out as you planned. However, it is imperative that you strive to reach those goals. Setting goals on a periodic basis is a fine way not to be overwhelmed or consumed with these plans. So what were your plans for this quarter? No plans? Do not go into the next quarter without goals. In fact, right now is a good time to start writing down your goals for the next quarter. Do not be like a young boy whom I call Seidu. Once Seidu was late to school while pushing his bicycle by the side. His teacher asked why he decided to push his bicycle instead of getting on it. Seidu replied” I was so late that I did not have time to climb the bicycle”. Like Seidu, we sometimes have the right resources to make things work in our favor but may still not know how best to use them. Success is not attained by winging things or via a sort of trial and error activities. Success is planned for. Are you an entrepreneur and wonder if your current staff have what it takes to take your business to the height you want for it? Is your goal to be better on your job and expose yourself to even better opportunities? Again, I present myself on behalf of Emeraldzone. Emeraldld zone is a leading business Consultancy services company. Reach out to us and let us help you grow as a person or even as a business. The next quarter is a few weeks away. Now is the time to start planning.

Byeee!

Vindy from Emeraldzone.

Personal Brand – Build Consciously

December 28, 2021 in Uncategorized

We all have a personal brand whether we know it or not. It’s what people think when your name is mentioned, what pops up on Google when someone searches for you, and your presence across social media. It’s important to craft your personal brand strategically and build one that helps advance your career and your life.

What Is A Personal Brand?

While most people think of businesses when they think of a brand, all individuals also have a brand.

Think of it as what people say and think about you. It encapsulates your talents as well as who you are, and it’s how you can differentiate yourself from others. Your brand is both what you stand for and what you do.

The best personal brands are unique, authentic, and trustworthy. They build a strong reputation about you that can help you personally and professionally.

Why Should You Build A Personal Brand?

Since your personal brand captures who you are and what skills you bring to the table, it helps you make powerful connections and leads to new opportunities. You’ll be surprised who starts contacting you when you’re intentional about crafting your brand. But there’s more to it than this.

As of 2020, 43% of the US workforce is made up of freelancers and contract workers. If this applies to you, a personal brand can help you land clients and bring in a larger paycheck. It helps establish your credibility and trustworthiness, and it also enables clients to find you.

Further, according to a CareerBuilder survey conducted in 2018, 70% of employers screen candidates by checking their social media, and 43% use it to check on current workers.

If you’re looking for a job, having a positive and strategic online presence could make or break your candidacy. Considering the average tenure for an employee is around four years, you’ll likely be on the job hunt at some point, so it’s a smart idea to get to work on a personal brand before you need it.

With all of this in mind, let’s dive into how you can begin building a powerful personal brand.

Steps to Build Your Brand

Here are the top seven ways to build a personal brand that shines.

Figure out who you are and what you want to accomplish

Since you want your personal brand to be an honest reflection of who you are, what skills you possess, and what your aspirations are, it’s critical to determine this information. Think deeply and be authentic.

You can start by asking yourself:

What drives me?
In what areas do I excel?
What work drains my energy? What work fuels me?
What settings do I work best in?
What industries do I find interesting?
Where do I want to be at the end of my career?
What impact do I want to have?

Even if the answers to these questions change over time, that’s okay. Your personal brand evolves as you do, so it’s critical that you be honest now and accept that your image may change over time.

If you aren’t sure how to answer these questions, ask friends, coworkers, and family for their input. Even if you’re confident in your answers, it may be a good idea to consult others. They see you in a way you can’t see yourself, and it can help you build a more holistic image of yourself.

Once you’re aware of these different parts of yourself, you can begin crafting an image that aligns with it and helps get you where you want to go.

Doing so also attracts like-minded people who are driven by the same things as you or who see value in what you offer. This creates a stronger network.

Determine your unique value proposition

Leveraging your differences is critical for brand-building. If you’re similar to everyone else out there, your personal brand won’t truly be personal. People remember those who stand out.

That’s where your unique value proposition comes into play. It is a short statement that encapsulates what you uniquely offer that no one else does.

When it comes to defining your unique value proposition, there are two steps you should take:

Understand your strengths. Ask yourself where you’ve excelled in the past. Consider what compliments others give you and what they deem to be your talents. Determining what you do better than most anyone else lays the foundation for your unique value proposition.
Talk about these strengths.By taking stock of your strengths, you can build your brand around them. Share your expertise and highlight your achievements. All of this builds credibility and establishes trust, so if an employer is considering you or if you’re looking to land a client, they can tell through your brand that you’re the best person to bring on board.

If you’ve determined your strengths but aren’t sure how to turn those into a value proposition, it may help to think in the same way you’d prepare for an interview. Here are a few ways you can better uncover what truly sets you apart:

Make your answer specific.Many people are hard workers, detail-oriented, and get along well with others. Instead, think about specific instances where your hard work or people skills paid off. What aspects of yourself came together to make those scenarios a success? What made it so you could accomplish what you did instead of others with similar skills?
Determine how this uniqueness will help you thrive.While it’s great to know what your strengths are, they aren’t useful if they aren’t applied. For instance, if you want to one day transition from sales to being a venture capitalist, consider what strengths of yours translate from sales to VC. Further, consider specific instances where these skills served you well as a salesperson and how those will enable you to thrive in the VC industry.
Talk about your personality.While hard work is a strength, not all hard workers are equally as outgoing, fun-loving, and agreeable. These personality traits combined with your skills further help you differentiate yourself from the pack. It’s likely a unique combination that serves you well.

Define your audience

Many people make the mistake of trying to appeal to the masses. It’s critically important to define your niche and then work to appeal to your target audience.

If you’re launching a business, your personal niche should be well-aligned with your business. If you want to build a brand to further your career, your niche should be in a specific area of your work.

To determine your niche, start with a broad category that interests you, such as sales, marketing, or finance. From there, narrow it down at least three times:

Imagine the difference between building a brand around marketing versus SEO blog and article writing for startups and small businesses.

The first is incredibly broad and encompasses so many different subjects that it will be really difficult to set yourself apart. The second provides with you a well-defined service that you offer to a well-defined audience. It’s much easier to be an expert in a small niche than a massive one.

If you still aren’t convinced, here are some benefits of niche marketing:

Less competition.The number of people in marketing is far greater than those in SEO content marketing for startups and small businesses, specifically using blogs and articles. This gives you a much greater chance to stand out and be successful.
Targeted expertise.While refining your knowledge in a broad category can take years, you can far more quickly level up in a specific niche. Since more knowledge contributes to your domain authority and helps you differentiate yourself, this can only help.
Improved customer relations.While it’s tempting to try and speak to the masses, engaging with fewer, more targeted prospects is more beneficial. It makes those conversations more engaging and increases the likelihood that a prospect converts (or that a recruiter hires you). You’re also better equipped to get to know your customers personally and tailor their experiences (or get to know a company better and personalize your interactions with them to land a position). All of this positively fuels itself moving forward.

Optimize your personal website and social profiles

Website: You can make a free website if you desire it, there are free website builders, meanwhile you need to purchase a domain and web hosting plan. such as Namecheap. for domain name and Bluehost. for webhosting

Now, regarding social media, there are four main platforms that people use for personal branding: LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram/TikTok. While it’s vital that these platforms align to tell a cohesive message, you may want to consider focusing on one to start.

Regarding building a personal brand on LinkedIn, there are some basics you need to cover:

Fill out all sections of your profile.
Use a professional headshot.
Add skills strategically.
Use keywords that fit your brand or your career throughout your profile

Once the basics are down, it’s time to start engaging. Here’s what you can do:

Leave 3–10 genuine, insightful commentson other influencers’ posts. Find influencers that are in your niche. If you leave A+ comments, they should gather likes and appear at the top, encouraging other people to connect with you.
Make one meaningful connection per day.It’s too easy to send empty connection requests and never talk to the person. Instead, try to connect with at least one person on a meaningful level every day.
Post once per day.It’s daunting to start posting, but this is the fastest way to build a following and strong personal brand. Post around your niche, and make it authentic. Here’s an article to help you start.

Twitter

It’s harder to break into the Twitter-sphere and become a true influencer, but you can use similar techniques as on LinkedIn.

Follow leaders in your desired niche, comment thoughtfully on their posts, retweet them, and begin tweeting insightful thoughts of your own. Jump onto relevant hashtags where you can.

As with any platform, the key to success with Twitter is consistency. The more meaningful conversations you have with those in your niche, the more visibility you’ll get.

Instagram/Tiktok

With Tiktok and the unveiling of Reels (Instagram’s Tiktok dupe), it’s far easier for you and me to become video influencers relatively fast.

There are some stories of near-overnight successes such as Pudgy Woke, who’ve amassed tens or hundreds of thousands of followers (eventually climbing to millions) in a month. While that’s an extreme example, it demonstrates a unique “quick” brand-building opportunity not yet prior.

Focusing on your niche, using relevant hashtags, and most of all, staying consistent is the most critical. Tiktok and Reels are notoriously trend-based, meaning new sounds arise quickly. If you can follow these trends and create insightful or entertaining content, you’ll see results a lot faster.

Develop your content strategy

Many people think “giving it all away” with free content is a mistake. If you give it all away, why would people hire you or pay you?

It’s quite the opposite. Providing valuable, genuinely helpful free content proves that you know what you’re talking about. It showcases your expertise. If the free advice worked, imagine what paying you would do?

Thus, step one is to make all content you post genuinely helpful and insightful. You want to be known as a trusted authority in your space.

Step two is to do a bit of research on what subjects within your niche are generating buzz. Google Keyword Planner, Google Trends, and Exploding Topics are great tools helping you uncover what’s trending. You can then jump on trends relevant to your niche to make sure you’re in the conversation.

Step three is remembering to cover all types of content. Posting only video or only text gets stale quickly. Share different types of content across all platforms. These content types include:

Podcasts
Online courses
Infographics
Text
Video
Slideshows
Webinars

You can share this content on the many platforms available, including:

Personal blog/website
Other blogs and online publications
Email list
Podcast directories
Tiktok/Reels
Youtube
Quora
Reddit
LinkedIn groups
And more….

Sharing a variety of content across multiple platforms increases your visibility and helps you build your brand more quickly.

While it may not be feasible to do all types of content, avoid sticking to one or two. Instead, aim to rotate through at least four or five of these content types and post them on platforms or via mediums where they’re likely to do best.

Constantly add value to your audience

Although mentioned briefly in the last section, now’s the time to emphasize the importance of adding value to your audience. It’s easy to create stale content, but making content that’s insightful, engaging, and that truly helps your audience is a different story.

Creating valuable content requires planning and intention. Schedule out your content and ask yourself: “would this help me? Is this actionable?”

Don’t settle for fluff or trite advice. Provide your audience with content that will make a real difference in their lives.

Build a community

Lastly, while amassing a following may seem impressive, it doesn’t do anything if nobody engages with you. Building a community means creating a place where people talk with you and each other, getting to know one another and helping each other out.

If you’re looking to generate business, this is an excellent way to differentiate yourself. Likewise, if you simply want your name out there to advance your career, this helps.

To start building a community, consider these strategies:

Facebook and LinkedIn groups. These allow people to start threads on relevant topics and talk among themselves. You can chime in as often as you want to spark conversations.
It’s hard to overestimate the value of meeting with people face-to-face. These meetings can be one-on-one, or you can host large gatherings of people to come together, share, and learn.
Webinars allow you to gather people together for a shared learning experience. This is an opportunity for you to meet your audience, share your expertise, and continue developing yourself personally.

Conclusion

While building a personal brand is a lot of work, the payoff is enormous when done correctly. Personal brands allow you to build a network of professionals who see your worth and think of you first when new opportunities arise.

Whether you’re looking to generate business, accelerate your career, find a mentor, or never job hunt again, a personal brand can get you there.

—

Teenagers should learn to Code

November 18, 2021 in Business, technology, Training, Upskilling

Why Teenagers should learn to code

There are a number of reasons why teenagers should learn to code some of which can start paying off immediately, while others hold their value for the long term.

To fill a gap

School is required. School is valuable. But most schools also haven’t come around to offering computer science courses. Unfortunately, though, coding is no longer a “nice to have” reserved as a selective skill for only the extremely dedicated to chase and learn on their own. It’s now something that is arguably more crucial to a well-rounded education, since ideally, “education” exists to prepare students for success in the real world.

So, teens should seek out coding classes and learn to code because the opportunity to do so is not going to come to them in the traditional school setting.

To get a leg up

If teens go out and seek to do something not available to most of their peers, they are going to stand out when compared to others. And one of the most important times that comparison happens is when it comes to college applications.

I mean, any extracurricular is typically going to bolster a college application, as it shows a student is taking initiative to take on more, and to develop alternative skills. But even beyond that, students who possess coding skills in particular can be reasoned to be logic-based problem solvers, or persistent and resilient challenge-tacklers who aren’t easily pushed off course by bugs or hurdles.

The benefits only snowball from there—those who seek to solve problems are often forced to communicate and work with others, and then are able to lead and teach once tasks are mastered, and so on.

To secure a lucrative career

First comes the opportunity, then comes college, and then of course, the ultimate goal, a career that pays well, is enjoyable, and has a noticeable impact on the general public.

Coding can very much be that career! While it’s up to the coder to decide whether or not coding is actually enjoyable and something they like doing, there isn’t any denying that a career rooted in coding is a lucrative one (the computer science major is one of the highest paying college majors available), and is something that is required and utilized throughout each and every day across the world.

In fact, there are a number of different coding languages that are used in order to make all of these things a reality.

Teens can code

Coding languages for teens to consider

JavaScript

Teens who are interested in web development and want to create front-end applications should consider JavaScript. It’s popular, and native to most web browsers, making it a very relevant and in-demand language when it comes to creating interactive web apps.

Quick fact: Netflix, PayPal, and a number of other recognizable web products lean on JavaScript (and the Node.js runtime environment, specifically).

Start now: JavaScript Coding powered by MIT Open Learning | Teen Tech

Read more: Web Design for Kids

Python

A great beginner’s language, teens can use Python to get their ideas up and running relatively quickly, given that Python requires fewer lines of code than other languages! Python is used by Google, Disney, other big brands, and can be utilized to develop video games, numeric computing projects, and web frameworks. Python is also flexible enough for use in cybersecurity and AI!

Beginners can expect to get started creating something like a text-based game, two-dimensional game, cybersecurity program, or console application.

Resources: Online python tutoring available now

C++

This is a versatile programming language that if mastered, will open the door to complex problem solving and a true understanding of how programs work. Teens might be most familiar with C++ as the language that is used to create computer applications. Thus, C++ is a time-intensive and complex language, but necessary for those interested in game programming.

Teens ready to get started can learn more about C++ tutoring.

Java

While Java might be easily confused with JavaScript, each language offers vastly different approaches, and they are used to accomplish a variety of different tasks. Teens who are familiar with and want to create Android apps will need to learn Java, and the language is also great for those interested in creating game engines and large backend environments, as well as those wanting to get into Minecraft modding.

Teens Coding

C#

If augmented reality is of interest, teens should consider diving into C#. By combining C# coding and Unity (the industry-standard game development engine), teens learn to use next-level sending and imaging tech to create their own mobile games!

Quick fact: Augmented reality is an interactive experience where digital objects are placed in a real-world environment in real-time.

Hands-on coding tools for teens

With something new and seemingly complex like coding, it might be useful for teens to get familiar with the tools and “toys” at their disposal, in order to make coding – and coding creations – more tangible.

micro:bit

The micro:bit is a small programmable computer more formally known as a microcontroller development board. It allows users to create awesome inventions. In addition to creating basic programs, teens can also use the device to develop games and solve real-world problems.

Sphero RVR

The Sphero RVR allows teens the opportunity to jump into autonomous robotics (which refers to robots that can be programmed to perform tasks on their own). The Sphero RVR is highly customizable and has many built-in sensors, a professional-level control system, and a powerful motor paired with all-terrain treads.

ProtoType HARP

Prototype HARP is an escape room style hardware game you have to “hack” to solve using cryptography and critical thinking skills. (HARP stands for hardware alternate reality puzzle.)

Arduino

An Arduino is a microcontroller, perfect for prototyping, and popular among teens who want to create new electronic devices and integrate sensors for something like an autonomous robot that understands and navigates its environment.

VEX

VEX is a popular, exciting, robotics platform designed for teens to build a wide variety of robots. Features includes sensors, which gather information for the robot, and motors, which allow users to create moving parts, like wheels and claw arms.

PyCharm

PyCharm is an Integrated Development Environment or IDE. You can think of it as a notepad in which to write programs.

TensorFlow

TensorFlow is a Google-developed library that makes it easier to create and train machine learning models and neural networks.

Quick fact: Machine learning allows computers to learn and improve at a given time with practice over time. Learn more about machine learning for kids.

IntelliJ

To start writing and running code in Java, teens can use IntelliJ, which is also an integrated development environment.

Visual Studio

Speaking of IDEs, Visual Studio is Microsoft’s integrated development environment. Teens can use Visual Studio for computer program development, allowing them to create websites as well as web and mobile apps.

MicroPython

As spelled out on micropython.org, “MicroPython is a lean and efficient implementation of the Python 3 programming language that includes a small subset of the Python standard library and is optimized to run on microcontrollers and in constrained environments.”

For instance, out at our robotics summer camps, MicroPython is used with Arduino to control the camera of an autonomous and self-driving robot, and sends information based on the camera readings to initiate commands in the Arduino programming language.

Coding by Teens

Coding project examples

When starting something new, a common piece of advice you’ll often receive is to go “step by step” or “one step at a time,” “walk before you run,” etc.

It’s all true, and great advice. But it doesn’t mean you can’t look ahead or around you at the same time. A perfect time to do so is when figuring out an end goal. Why coding? What does your teen want to do with it? What can they do with it?

So, here are a few example projects that combine a lot of what has already been explained above with languages and tools.

For instance, combining micro:bit and Javascript, teens can learn how to program games and then play them on their own or with friends—something like a falling fruit catcher as shown here!

Speaking of games, any game player is familiar with the famous side-scroller, made popular by titles like Super Mario Bros., Double Dragon, and others. And how about the endless runner? Sonic Dash and Super Mario Run are newer examples, made popular as mobile apps. With Java, 2D jump physics, and more, teens can make their own side-scrolling endless runner!

Switching gears to Augmented reality, AR is an interactive experience where digital objects are placed in a real-world environment in real-time. Recently, Augmented Reality technology has boomed due to applications and games that have made it more accessible to everyone.

Teens interested in creating their own AR games with C# can look to the massively-popular Pokémon Go for inspiration. Other AR app examples include Snapchat’s filters, and visualization experiences like IKEA’s Place app, which allows shoppers to virtually place furniture they’re considering in their homes (or, within/on top of photos of their homes) to see how it looks!

And then how about a game built with machine learning? Experiments with Google is a rabbit hole of fun, and one of the things you might come across is this drawing game where a neural network guesses what you’re drawing. It’s pretty amazing how accurate the guesses are, even when you’re terrible at drawing like me!

Last, for a hands-on, competitive endeavor, how about a little battle bot action? With VEX Coding Studio and VEX C++ (the robotics coding language), teens can customize and wire a robot base, and then put it through user-piloted obstacle course challenges and mazes, or stacking and object-moving activities, and more.

The time to code is now for TEENS

Something can’t be called cliche if it’s accurate, that’s my rule. So, seriously, if teens want to be able to get all they can out of learning to code, the time is now. Jumping in today will allow them to reap maximum benefits from all that coding has to offer.

And there is good news and bad news. The bad news is that opportunities to learn to code aren’t just going to fall into anyone’s lap. Teens who get up and go to school, then to baseball practice, and then home every single day may not ever be exposed to a coding opportunity.

The good news, though, is that opportunities are plentiful, but they need to actively searched for. Perhaps it’s an online coding course over the weekend, or a weeklong coding camp during the summer. You can even get the ball rolling by downloading a coding app, or watching a YouTube tutorial.

Either way, best of luck! Here are a few additional resources to help your teen get started.

Our Blog