User Persona Spark Yours to Life With These 9 Tools - CoSchedule Blog

User Persona Spark Yours to Life With These 9 Tools Blog Ah, the user persona. Every marketing expert will tell you that you need one as the foundation for your content marketing strategy. But so many people just slap together some vague demographic data, give it a cute, alliterated name like â€Å"Busy Betsy† or â€Å"Hipster Henry† and call it a persona. Then they wonder why they arent seeing user engagement with their content. If you want to create meaningful content that wins fans and conversions, your user persona needs to be more than a collection of data points. To make your user persona come to life, you need to create a fully fleshed-out character with dreams, fears, challenges, and desires. You need a complex, uniquely human hero for the story youre telling with your brand. But it can’t just be a pure flight of fantasy. Each characteristic and inner motivation of your user persona should have data or real-life examples to back it up. Sound like a tall order? Worry not: this post will give you the online resources you need to make a hyper-specific user persona. I’ll show you how to use persona-building tools so you can create deeply engaging content that will draw in your target audience and make them stick with you. But first   Spark Your User Persona To Life With These 9 Important ToolsWhy Do We Need User Personas? Writing generic content to a general audience just doesn’t cut it anymore. Gone are the days of keyword stuffed, SEO-focused content, clickbait social media posts, and salesy email blasts. The average internet user can see right through these flimsy marketing ploys. If you want to stand out on search engine results, on social media and in your email marketing, you need to have robust, human-centered content that hits people right in the feels. And a User Persona helps you define just who that human is and what kind of content appeals to their needs. But maybe I should back up a few steps. Let’s take a quick look at what a User Persona is. Describing a User (or Buyer or Customer or Reader) Persona can take up an entire blog post unto itself. Thankfully, Sam Kusinitz  of HubSpot has distilled things down into less than 100 words for us: A buyer persona  is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers. When creating your buyer persona(s), consider including customer demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, and goals. The more detailed you are, the better. So basically, a User Persona is a made-up customer who represents the very real customers you want to appeal to. A User Persona is a made-up customer who represents the very real customers you want to appeal toIn case you’re feeling a bit skeptical about the impact of a fictional character upon your bottom line, here are a few stats  from Cintell's 2016 Benchmark Study to help fire up your faith in the Power of the Persona: 71%  of companies who exceed revenue and lead goals have documented Personas 65%  of companies who exceed lead and revenue goals have updated their Personas within the last 6 months. Persona based content increased customer engagement almost six-fold  when targeting cold leads (10% versus 58%). Using Personas increases email open rate 2-5 times. It is more effective to target cold leads with Persona based content than targeting warm leads without using Persona based content (58% versus 45%) Pretty impressive, right? So just what is it about User Personas that make such a huge difference in customer engagement and conversion rates? It comes down to a potent mixture of storytelling, psychology, and sociology. Recommended Reading: How to Write Like a Journalist to Be a Better Marketing Storyteller Why Do User Personas Work? As marketers, we’ve long known that the fastest route to inspiring empathy and emotional connections in audiences is to tell a story. But recent neurological studies  have confirmed that if you really want to hook someone, tell them a story about a protagonist with a relatable goal and describe their struggle to reach that goal. So here’s what you want your User Persona to be: An individual with internal and external features similar to your audience, A person whose goals mirror your audience A character who has everyday struggles that your audience can immediately relate to. The more specific you are about what makes your User Persona an individual, the deeper an emotional connection your audience will have with your brand. And the easier it will be to convince them to take action. The more specific your personas are, the deeper emotional connection your audience will have with...Be Fearless In Your User Persona Back in 1978, two hippy guys decided to sell ice cream out of an abandoned Vermont gas station. Within five years, their chunky, flavorful ice cream packaged in colorful pint-sized containers caught the attention of grocery stores. The ice cream sold so fast from freezer sections they could barely keep it in stock. Ben Jerry’s was a tremendous hit. How did they become such a big success where other homemade ice cream shops have failed? Because Ben Jerry weren’t afraid to get specific about their user persona. And their user persona wasn’t what people had come to expect from a homemade ice cream brand. Here’s how your typical, old-school marketing team would probably have done it: using traditional market-focused research, they would have focused on the â€Å"homespun Vermont† aspect of Ben Jerry’s and featured a hand-operated ice cream maker in their logo. Instead of focusing on the buyer, they would have extolled the quality of the ingredients and the deliciousness of the flavors. Their flavors would have had Vermont-inspired names like â€Å"Backwoods Berry Blend† or â€Å"Maple Syrup Swirl.† Freelance designer Lyn Severance knew their brand had to reflect the groovy spirit of the hippy era and the fun-loving personalities of Ben Jerry and their friends. But Ben Jerry knew who their customers were, and they weren’t the rustic, antique-loving Vermonters of popular imagination. Note that their original container illustration featured a hand-cranked ice cream maker- but there’s a person  with a distinct personality doing the work: a stout, bearded dude who bears a striking resemblance to The Original Chubby Hubby himself, co-founder Ben Cohen. Also, the style of the illustration brings to mind the underground comics and concert posters of the 1960’s and 1970’s, not the vintage etchings of the 1900’s. There’s something mischievous, verging on subversive about Ben Jerry’s branding. But fun/peace-loving  subversive.  Yellow Submarine  subversive. The folks who flocked to Ben Jerry’s were real people who loved pop culture, leaned to the left politically, had an irreverent sense of humor, and got the munchies when they partook in their recreational mood-altering substance of choice. In other words, Ben Jerry’s target user was,well, Ben Jerry. So Ben Jerry created a product that spoke to THAT Persona. Even at the risk of alienating the people who don’t fit that description. Ben Jerry aren’t afraid to court controversy and voice their stances on political and social issues. A recent blog post prominently features the â€Å"Black Lives Matter† sign in their signature hand-lettered calligraphy. No doubt this wins them even more brand loyalty from their socially-conscious target buyers. (Source) In fact, not being afraid to take a stand is an essential quality of Ben Jerry’s User Persona. The ice cream brand has used content to inspire their audience to help them face down Pillsbury-owned rival Hagen Daas in the form of boycotts and protests. 'We believed that Pillsbury’s actions were illegal,' says Ben, 'but we knew that in a strictly legal fight we’d run out of time and money long before Pillsbury would. Our only option was to rely on our customers and the media to pressure Pillsbury into backing off. So we started printing the slogan â€Å"What’s the Doughboy Afraid Of?† on our pint containers, along with an 800 number for the Doughboy Hotline. Everyone who called got a Doughboy Kit, with protest letters addressed to the Federal Trade Commission and the chairman of the Pillsbury board, and a bumper sticker.' By publishing their Doughboy Hotline, they collected the names and addresses of their highly engaged (target) customers- customers who they could send additional marketing content like coupons or recipe booklets to. Ben Jerry created a targeted lead magnet before people were even using the world wide web. And their User Persona doesn’t only impact their marketing strategy- every aspect of Ben Jerry’s from product to operations was created with their user in mind. Because their target buyer (and their executive team) is socially conscious, Ben Jerry’s was one of the first companies to adopt an executive salary cap (although they dropped it when they hired a new CEO in 1994). The secret to Ben Jerry’s success is not in their admittedly delicious ice cream, but in their ability to understand what their target buyer ultimately wants from the world. Recommended Reading: How to Find Your Target Audience and Create the Best Content That Connects The Keys to a Great User Persona So how can you make your target buyer feel like you really, truly â€Å"get† what they’re about? By asking the right questions about who they are and finding real-word answers. Some of those questions are about demographics, like: Age Gender Income Occupation Education level Geography Marital Status Those are external factors about the circumstances of your target user’s life. Things that, unless they make a major life change, they have little control over. When you dig a little deeper, you start getting into psychographic information, like: Lifestyle Hobbies Career goals Political affiliations Religious values Priorities in life Aesthetic taste Obstacles Fears Assumptions As you discover more about your target buyer, you’ll unlock the hidden desires, fears, and challenges your target user faces so your content can help them navigate along their journey toward their biggest goals in life. And the more you help your target user, the more they will trust you, and the more they will want to do business with you. The more you help your target user, the more they will trust and do business with you. After you’ve developed your user persona, here’s what you can expect: You’ll gain a clearer picture into the external and internal life of your target user You’ll have more relevant content ideas You’ll write content faster You’ll know where to find your target user You’ll know which people/publications your user sees as influencers You’ll know where to promote your content so your target reader will find it You’ll dramatically increase your conversion rates So without further ado, here are some resources you can add to your persona-building toolkit today. Here are the resources you need to start building user #personas1. Target Audience Kit has created a handy downloadable package  that includes a worksheet on how to conduct audience surveys and a quick-and-easy template for a user persona. Print them out and use them as guidelines as you hunt down demographic and psychographic information. 2. Startup Target Customer Profile Worksheet What if you don’t know who your target customer is because you’re just starting out? I’ve created an in-depth worksheet for startup founders to help you ask the right questions in your search for the perfect customer. It covers not only their demographics and psychographics, but also their digital tribes, influencers, popular hashtagsbasically all the information you need to reach your target user when they’re actively looking for stuff that relates to your service. You can download it here. 3. Xtensio User Persona Creator This intuitive web-based template by â€Å"lean design agency† Xtensio helps you create a beautifully designed persona to share with your clients or team members as you create your content marketing strategy. When you sign up for a free account, you’ll also have access to templates for pitch decks, business plans, content strategies, and press releases, among other tools. If you’re a startup founder, this could be a true life (and time) saver. Alright, you now have three blank slates for creating your user persona. But how do you find the data to fill in the blanks? Below you’ll find some essential resources to help you discover information about your target customers based on real-world data. Recommended Reading: This is How to Use Data to Fuel Your Content Marketing Strategy 4. Google Analytics First of all, are the right visitors finding you? What are the interests of the people visiting your site, and what kind of content are they engaging the most with? Is there anything you need to change about the way visitors discover your content? A peek at your Google Analytics will give you these insights and more. One Way Use Google Analytics (of Many): If you don’t have Google Analytics set up on your website, take a few minutes to get your tracking code and install Analytics to your website. Once you’ve created your Analytics account and installed your tracking code to your site, wait about a week for Google to collect data about your visitors. Then log into your account and browse around. You can see your average visitor’s demographics, what content they’re spending the most time looking at, even their interests based on their typical search behavior. Google Analytics helps you see whether or not the users that are coming to you are the users you actually want. For example, I noticed when I went into my Users Interests In-market Segments that the top four interests of visitors to my site were: Employment Travel/Hotel Accommodations Employment/Career Counseling Services Dating Services My site is for Copywriting and Content Strategy Services. So somewhere there’s a disconnect between the content of my site and the people who are finding it. Now the challenge is to figure out why people are coming to me looking for jobs, accommodations, or love. So I take a look at my Landing Page analytics to see which page is attracting the most traffic, and lo and behold, other than my home page, the top two pages are two blog articles: one about the TED Talk formula for sales pitches, and one about finding your target customer. The â€Å"target customer† post starts with a story about my experiences with online dating and how they parallel with a startup founder’s search for the perfect customer. Later in the post, I give an example of a travel bag company that used â€Å"Alternatives to AirBnB† as a way to capture their target leads. So, that explains why people interested in Dating Services and Travel stumble upon my site! It also tells me that I need to build up the content on my site for my target customer so more startup founders and less lonely hearts and wayward travelers find their way to my blog. Even more reason to really hone in on my User Persona and their needs There are a myriad of ways Google Analytics can give you insights about who is coming to your site and what changes you need to make so your content is getting in front of the right people. Do yourself a BIG favor and take some time to evaluate the quality of the traffic you’re already getting so you can determine what you need to tweak to improve it.   has created a quick guide to how to use Google Analytics to understand your audience. Recommended Reading: 5 Big Questions About Your Site That Google Analytics Can Answer 5. Alexa Let’s say that you haven’t launched your site yet  or you’re getting ready to do a major overhaul of your website. You may be feeling a bit in the dark as far as who your ideal customer actually is. The good news is you have plenty to learn about your target audience by getting a glimpse at who’s going to the competition. Alexa provides detailed demographic reports  on visitors to any website, as well as the most popular keywords people use to find them. Here’s the quick-and-dirty way to get the goods on who is looking for your products or services. Google your core offer and see who your top competitors are in the paid and organic results. For example, let’s say you’re a virtual assistant for small business owners. The top paid result is for TasksEveryday.com. Go to Alexa.com and type in the URL and when you scroll down you’ll see related sites (ie other competitors in your niche): And their audience demographics: By using the new Audience Overlap Tool, you can get a big-picture demographic view of who is using virtual assistant services similar to your top competitor: Just click â€Å"Audience Overlap Tool† on the main overview page: Select the competitors you wish to compare: Scroll down to Demographics and take a look at what these sites have in common and what makes them notably different. For example, I noticed that getfriday.com visitors have a much younger average age (18-24) than taskseveryday.com (35-44). When I investigated, I clicked on â€Å"getfriday.com† to open a site overview in Alexa and discovered one of the main sites that led visitors to GetFriday was YouTube: So I clicked the link and discovered that the videos that lead to getfriday.com are all about outsourcing Virtual Assistants from the Phillipines. Is that giving me a clearer picture of who is going to my competitors and why? Well, if I do a little more digging into the demographic information on Alexa, I can discover that the average income of the GetFriday user trends lower than the average income of the TasksEveryday user. So now I have a decision to make: do I want to target my Virtual Assistant service to a budget-strapped startup founder looking to outsource on the cheap or a well-to-do CEO of a small company willing to invest in a top-notch professional? Once I make that decision, I can start deep-diving into the world of my target user to fill in the gaps of their larger story. Recommended Reading: 14 Time-Tested Tactics to Get Tons of Traffic from Social Media 6. BuzzSumo You now know the â€Å"who’s† about your target customers using Google Analytics Alexa. Now it’s time to discover the â€Å"what’s† and the â€Å"why’s.† What are your customer’s goals and Why do your target customers need your help accomplishing their goals? BuzzSumo is hands-down the most popular audience discovery tool for content marketers.  After an initial free trial, you have to pay for it, but if you’re trying to build an audience and relationships with influencers, it’s well worth the $99 a month. Why? Because with one keyword search, not only will you find the most popular articles about a topic in terms of shares and clicks, but also who the most influential people are within a niche AND who their followers are. So to continue with our fictional Virtual Assistant service, let’s say we want to cater to startup founders. So I type â€Å"startups and virtual assistants† into the BuzzSumo search box and see which articles have had the most engagement over the past year: Then I click on â€Å"View Sharers† to see who has been engaging with the post. I see that Stephen Bronner, news director for Entrepreneur has been sharing the article, which tells me he thinks his followers would find value in it. So now I can take a look at his followers. After scrolling through their bios, I spot an ideal candidate for Virtual Assistant services: a PR coach for entrepreneurs and startup founders: Now I can take a look at her Twitter profiles to get insights on her life and the lives of her  followers people who are starting their own companies and need help. Like this follower, who describes herself as a serial entrepreneur: BOOM. Target achieved. This person’s Twitter account is a window into her life. She tweets about where she likes to go to eat, the big projects she’s working on, her hobbies, the religious holidays she celebrates, the brands she likes. You can fill out an entire User Persona template with this information alone! Recommended Reading: This is the Marketing Research Process That Will Take Your Content to the Next Level 7. Customer Surveys Let’s say that you’re an established company looking to shift to a customer-centered content marketing strategy. Your current customers are an invaluable resource for insights. Just ask them about their lives. Pioneering content strategist Colleen Jones  says customer surveys are a great way not only to determine user behavior (what they do), but also the emotions and motivations leading to their decisions (what they’re feeling): â€Å"If you want to assess your success at producing effective content marketing, you need useful, actionable feedback about it. That means you need to know what people think about your content. Surveys are an invaluable way to find out.† Here are some customer survey tools you can try out for free: Survey Monkey- The most popular contender, Survey Monkey has a great reputation for being easy to use and having a step-by-step tutorial to walk you through the survey-building process. However, to export the survey data you collect, you’ll have to upgrade to a paid version. Typeform- Typeform’s survey templates are slick and beautifully designed, which means your participants are less likely to abandon ship mid-survey out of boredom. Google Forms- Simple, straightforward, free, and easy to access via your Google Drive account. Need help coming up with some good questions? Michael Patterson, CEO of marketing research software Hotjar has come up with a great list of customer survey questions  that get into the minds (and hearts) of your customers. Recommended Reading: How to Use Social Media Listening to Create Better Content for Your Audience 8. Quora If you lack a customer base or even a list to send audience surveys out to, Quora can be an invaluable tool to grab information about your target customer’s needs  Ã¢â‚¬Å"in their own words.† Don’t just look at the most-upvoted answers: sometimes the replies to expert answers can provide you with deeper insights into your target user’s world than the more polished expert responses. Quora can be an invaluable tool to grab information about your target customer’s needs9. Twenty20 Confession time: I’ve spent more time than I should looking through Twenty20’s gorgeous curated stock photo collections, in search of The Face of the User Persona for my clients. Why Twenty20 as opposed to the kajillions of other stock photography sites out there? Because Twenty20 sources and curates photography that looks like real people’s lives instead of glossy studio sessions. Here’s what you should look for in a great User Persona profile pic: A headshot of one person- Your user persona represents an individual, not a group. Personality-  Unless you’re creating content for a modeling agency, your user persona is probably not a fashion model. Look for pictures of everyday folks. Match the data demographics-  If your research suggests that the majority of users in your niche are 50-something white-collar professional women, don’t use a headshot of a 20-something tattoo artist. In their natural environment- Try to find a picture that shows your User Persona where she’d be using your product or service. Above all, User Personas should represent and look like the real people you're creating content for. Here are some other examples of great User Personas to help give you a kickstart in creating your own. (Source: Xtensio) Recommended Reading: How to Make the Best Social Media Images the Easy Way (+84 Free Images) Note how in-depth the above persona is in terms of Alyssa’s desire to balance her creativity with her business sense.   This is a great starting point for giving a â€Å"voice† to a brand’s content: that of a passionate artist who wants to be a success without being a â€Å"sell-out.† So based on the information I gathered using the tools above for my fictional Virtual Assistant service, here’s the User Persona I created using the Xtensio template tool: On the other end of the persona spectrum, we have MailChimp’s multiple User Personas. (Source: MailChimp) These visually appealing Personas aren't as specific in their narratives as Xtensio’s, but they still offer psychographic data for inspiring content. Even though these Personas lack a written story, the specificity of the look, dress, and descriptive text communicate volumes about each individual. To achieve this Portrait style persona, all you need is: A graphic design tool like Canva  or Photoshop, A great stock photo, A list of personality traits and motivators. Here’s what I made in Canva using the same Virtual Assistant target user: How to Create Your Own Persona in Canva Here’s a quick example showing how you can create one that is similar: After opening Canva, select â€Å"Create a Design† Select the â€Å"Blog Graphic† template from the Blogging eBooks section Upload your stock photo (or you can choose from Canva’s collection of stock photography and pay a $1 to download it) Drag and drop the stock photo as the background to the layout Free stock photo from Pexels.com Select the Heading text tool and start typing the personality trait keywords.  Choose various fonts, sizes or colors as needed. You can change the angle of the text by selecting the text box, clicking on the Rotate tool (the circular arrow at the bottom of the text box), and rotating the text box around. It's Time to Start Creating Better User Personas Alright: you've now assembled a well-stocked persona toolkit.   It's time to get to work! Have fun creating your User Persona- and if you've made one you're particularly proud of, feel free to share it with us! User Persona Spark Yours to Life With These 9 Tools Blog Ah, the user persona. Every marketing expert will tell you that you need one as the foundation for your content marketing strategy. But so many people just slap together some vague demographic data, give it a cute, alliterated name like â€Å"Busy Betsy† or â€Å"Hipster Henry† and call it a persona. Then they wonder why they arent seeing user engagement with their content. If you want to create meaningful content that wins fans and conversions, your user persona needs to be more than a collection of data points. To make your user persona come to life, you need to create a fully fleshed-out character with dreams, fears, challenges, and desires. You need a complex, uniquely human hero for the story youre telling with your brand. But it can’t just be a pure flight of fantasy. Each characteristic and inner motivation of your user persona should have data or real-life examples to back it up. Sound like a tall order? Worry not: this post will give you the online resources you need to make a hyper-specific user persona. I’ll show you how to use persona-building tools so you can create deeply engaging content that will draw in your target audience and make them stick with you. But first   Spark Your User Persona To Life With These 9 Important ToolsWhy Do We Need User Personas? Writing generic content to a general audience just doesn’t cut it anymore. Gone are the days of keyword stuffed, SEO-focused content, clickbait social media posts, and salesy email blasts. The average internet user can see right through these flimsy marketing ploys. If you want to stand out on search engine results, on social media and in your email marketing, you need to have robust, human-centered content that hits people right in the feels. And a User Persona helps you define just who that human is and what kind of content appeals to their needs. But maybe I should back up a few steps. Let’s take a quick look at what a User Persona is. Describing a User (or Buyer or Customer or Reader) Persona can take up an entire blog post unto itself. Thankfully, Sam Kusinitz  of HubSpot has distilled things down into less than 100 words for us: A buyer persona  is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers. When creating your buyer persona(s), consider including customer demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, and goals. The more detailed you are, the better. So basically, a User Persona is a made-up customer who represents the very real customers you want to appeal to. A User Persona is a made-up customer who represents the very real customers you want to appeal toIn case you’re feeling a bit skeptical about the impact of a fictional character upon your bottom line, here are a few stats  from Cintell's 2016 Benchmark Study to help fire up your faith in the Power of the Persona: 71%  of companies who exceed revenue and lead goals have documented Personas 65%  of companies who exceed lead and revenue goals have updated their Personas within the last 6 months. Persona based content increased customer engagement almost six-fold  when targeting cold leads (10% versus 58%). Using Personas increases email open rate 2-5 times. It is more effective to target cold leads with Persona based content than targeting warm leads without using Persona based content (58% versus 45%) Pretty impressive, right? So just what is it about User Personas that make such a huge difference in customer engagement and conversion rates? It comes down to a potent mixture of storytelling, psychology, and sociology. Recommended Reading: How to Write Like a Journalist to Be a Better Marketing Storyteller Why Do User Personas Work? As marketers, we’ve long known that the fastest route to inspiring empathy and emotional connections in audiences is to tell a story. But recent neurological studies  have confirmed that if you really want to hook someone, tell them a story about a protagonist with a relatable goal and describe their struggle to reach that goal. So here’s what you want your User Persona to be: An individual with internal and external features similar to your audience, A person whose goals mirror your audience A character who has everyday struggles that your audience can immediately relate to. The more specific you are about what makes your User Persona an individual, the deeper an emotional connection your audience will have with your brand. And the easier it will be to convince them to take action. The more specific your personas are, the deeper emotional connection your audience will have with...Be Fearless In Your User Persona Back in 1978, two hippy guys decided to sell ice cream out of an abandoned Vermont gas station. Within five years, their chunky, flavorful ice cream packaged in colorful pint-sized containers caught the attention of grocery stores. The ice cream sold so fast from freezer sections they could barely keep it in stock. Ben Jerry’s was a tremendous hit. How did they become such a big success where other homemade ice cream shops have failed? Because Ben Jerry weren’t afraid to get specific about their user persona. And their user persona wasn’t what people had come to expect from a homemade ice cream brand. Here’s how your typical, old-school marketing team would probably have done it: using traditional market-focused research, they would have focused on the â€Å"homespun Vermont† aspect of Ben Jerry’s and featured a hand-operated ice cream maker in their logo. Instead of focusing on the buyer, they would have extolled the quality of the ingredients and the deliciousness of the flavors. Their flavors would have had Vermont-inspired names like â€Å"Backwoods Berry Blend† or â€Å"Maple Syrup Swirl.† Freelance designer Lyn Severance knew their brand had to reflect the groovy spirit of the hippy era and the fun-loving personalities of Ben Jerry and their friends. But Ben Jerry knew who their customers were, and they weren’t the rustic, antique-loving Vermonters of popular imagination. Note that their original container illustration featured a hand-cranked ice cream maker- but there’s a person  with a distinct personality doing the work: a stout, bearded dude who bears a striking resemblance to The Original Chubby Hubby himself, co-founder Ben Cohen. Also, the style of the illustration brings to mind the underground comics and concert posters of the 1960’s and 1970’s, not the vintage etchings of the 1900’s. There’s something mischievous, verging on subversive about Ben Jerry’s branding. But fun/peace-loving  subversive.  Yellow Submarine  subversive. The folks who flocked to Ben Jerry’s were real people who loved pop culture, leaned to the left politically, had an irreverent sense of humor, and got the munchies when they partook in their recreational mood-altering substance of choice. In other words, Ben Jerry’s target user was,well, Ben Jerry. So Ben Jerry created a product that spoke to THAT Persona. Even at the risk of alienating the people who don’t fit that description. Ben Jerry aren’t afraid to court controversy and voice their stances on political and social issues. A recent blog post prominently features the â€Å"Black Lives Matter† sign in their signature hand-lettered calligraphy. No doubt this wins them even more brand loyalty from their socially-conscious target buyers. (Source) In fact, not being afraid to take a stand is an essential quality of Ben Jerry’s User Persona. The ice cream brand has used content to inspire their audience to help them face down Pillsbury-owned rival Hagen Daas in the form of boycotts and protests. 'We believed that Pillsbury’s actions were illegal,' says Ben, 'but we knew that in a strictly legal fight we’d run out of time and money long before Pillsbury would. Our only option was to rely on our customers and the media to pressure Pillsbury into backing off. So we started printing the slogan â€Å"What’s the Doughboy Afraid Of?† on our pint containers, along with an 800 number for the Doughboy Hotline. Everyone who called got a Doughboy Kit, with protest letters addressed to the Federal Trade Commission and the chairman of the Pillsbury board, and a bumper sticker.' By publishing their Doughboy Hotline, they collected the names and addresses of their highly engaged (target) customers- customers who they could send additional marketing content like coupons or recipe booklets to. Ben Jerry created a targeted lead magnet before people were even using the world wide web. And their User Persona doesn’t only impact their marketing strategy- every aspect of Ben Jerry’s from product to operations was created with their user in mind. Because their target buyer (and their executive team) is socially conscious, Ben Jerry’s was one of the first companies to adopt an executive salary cap (although they dropped it when they hired a new CEO in 1994). The secret to Ben Jerry’s success is not in their admittedly delicious ice cream, but in their ability to understand what their target buyer ultimately wants from the world. Recommended Reading: How to Find Your Target Audience and Create the Best Content That Connects The Keys to a Great User Persona So how can you make your target buyer feel like you really, truly â€Å"get† what they’re about? By asking the right questions about who they are and finding real-word answers. Some of those questions are about demographics, like: Age Gender Income Occupation Education level Geography Marital Status Those are external factors about the circumstances of your target user’s life. Things that, unless they make a major life change, they have little control over. When you dig a little deeper, you start getting into psychographic information, like: Lifestyle Hobbies Career goals Political affiliations Religious values Priorities in life Aesthetic taste Obstacles Fears Assumptions As you discover more about your target buyer, you’ll unlock the hidden desires, fears, and challenges your target user faces so your content can help them navigate along their journey toward their biggest goals in life. And the more you help your target user, the more they will trust you, and the more they will want to do business with you. The more you help your target user, the more they will trust and do business with you. After you’ve developed your user persona, here’s what you can expect: You’ll gain a clearer picture into the external and internal life of your target user You’ll have more relevant content ideas You’ll write content faster You’ll know where to find your target user You’ll know which people/publications your user sees as influencers You’ll know where to promote your content so your target reader will find it You’ll dramatically increase your conversion rates So without further ado, here are some resources you can add to your persona-building toolkit today. Here are the resources you need to start building user #personas1. Target Audience Kit has created a handy downloadable package  that includes a worksheet on how to conduct audience surveys and a quick-and-easy template for a user persona. Print them out and use them as guidelines as you hunt down demographic and psychographic information. 2. Startup Target Customer Profile Worksheet What if you don’t know who your target customer is because you’re just starting out? I’ve created an in-depth worksheet for startup founders to help you ask the right questions in your search for the perfect customer. It covers not only their demographics and psychographics, but also their digital tribes, influencers, popular hashtagsbasically all the information you need to reach your target user when they’re actively looking for stuff that relates to your service. You can download it here. 3. Xtensio User Persona Creator This intuitive web-based template by â€Å"lean design agency† Xtensio helps you create a beautifully designed persona to share with your clients or team members as you create your content marketing strategy. When you sign up for a free account, you’ll also have access to templates for pitch decks, business plans, content strategies, and press releases, among other tools. If you’re a startup founder, this could be a true life (and time) saver. Alright, you now have three blank slates for creating your user persona. But how do you find the data to fill in the blanks? Below you’ll find some essential resources to help you discover information about your target customers based on real-world data. Recommended Reading: This is How to Use Data to Fuel Your Content Marketing Strategy 4. Google Analytics First of all, are the right visitors finding you? What are the interests of the people visiting your site, and what kind of content are they engaging the most with? Is there anything you need to change about the way visitors discover your content? A peek at your Google Analytics will give you these insights and more. One Way Use Google Analytics (of Many): If you don’t have Google Analytics set up on your website, take a few minutes to get your tracking code and install Analytics to your website. Once you’ve created your Analytics account and installed your tracking code to your site, wait about a week for Google to collect data about your visitors. Then log into your account and browse around. You can see your average visitor’s demographics, what content they’re spending the most time looking at, even their interests based on their typical search behavior. Google Analytics helps you see whether or not the users that are coming to you are the users you actually want. For example, I noticed when I went into my Users Interests In-market Segments that the top four interests of visitors to my site were: Employment Travel/Hotel Accommodations Employment/Career Counseling Services Dating Services My site is for Copywriting and Content Strategy Services. So somewhere there’s a disconnect between the content of my site and the people who are finding it. Now the challenge is to figure out why people are coming to me looking for jobs, accommodations, or love. So I take a look at my Landing Page analytics to see which page is attracting the most traffic, and lo and behold, other than my home page, the top two pages are two blog articles: one about the TED Talk formula for sales pitches, and one about finding your target customer. The â€Å"target customer† post starts with a story about my experiences with online dating and how they parallel with a startup founder’s search for the perfect customer. Later in the post, I give an example of a travel bag company that used â€Å"Alternatives to AirBnB† as a way to capture their target leads. So, that explains why people interested in Dating Services and Travel stumble upon my site! It also tells me that I need to build up the content on my site for my target customer so more startup founders and less lonely hearts and wayward travelers find their way to my blog. Even more reason to really hone in on my User Persona and their needs There are a myriad of ways Google Analytics can give you insights about who is coming to your site and what changes you need to make so your content is getting in front of the right people. Do yourself a BIG favor and take some time to evaluate the quality of the traffic you’re already getting so you can determine what you need to tweak to improve it.   has created a quick guide to how to use Google Analytics to understand your audience. Recommended Reading: 5 Big Questions About Your Site That Google Analytics Can Answer 5. Alexa Let’s say that you haven’t launched your site yet  or you’re getting ready to do a major overhaul of your website. You may be feeling a bit in the dark as far as who your ideal customer actually is. The good news is you have plenty to learn about your target audience by getting a glimpse at who’s going to the competition. Alexa provides detailed demographic reports  on visitors to any website, as well as the most popular keywords people use to find them. Here’s the quick-and-dirty way to get the goods on who is looking for your products or services. Google your core offer and see who your top competitors are in the paid and organic results. For example, let’s say you’re a virtual assistant for small business owners. The top paid result is for TasksEveryday.com. Go to Alexa.com and type in the URL and when you scroll down you’ll see related sites (ie other competitors in your niche): And their audience demographics: By using the new Audience Overlap Tool, you can get a big-picture demographic view of who is using virtual assistant services similar to your top competitor: Just click â€Å"Audience Overlap Tool† on the main overview page: Select the competitors you wish to compare: Scroll down to Demographics and take a look at what these sites have in common and what makes them notably different. For example, I noticed that getfriday.com visitors have a much younger average age (18-24) than taskseveryday.com (35-44). When I investigated, I clicked on â€Å"getfriday.com† to open a site overview in Alexa and discovered one of the main sites that led visitors to GetFriday was YouTube: So I clicked the link and discovered that the videos that lead to getfriday.com are all about outsourcing Virtual Assistants from the Phillipines. Is that giving me a clearer picture of who is going to my competitors and why? Well, if I do a little more digging into the demographic information on Alexa, I can discover that the average income of the GetFriday user trends lower than the average income of the TasksEveryday user. So now I have a decision to make: do I want to target my Virtual Assistant service to a budget-strapped startup founder looking to outsource on the cheap or a well-to-do CEO of a small company willing to invest in a top-notch professional? Once I make that decision, I can start deep-diving into the world of my target user to fill in the gaps of their larger story. Recommended Reading: 14 Time-Tested Tactics to Get Tons of Traffic from Social Media 6. BuzzSumo You now know the â€Å"who’s† about your target customers using Google Analytics Alexa. Now it’s time to discover the â€Å"what’s† and the â€Å"why’s.† What are your customer’s goals and Why do your target customers need your help accomplishing their goals? BuzzSumo is hands-down the most popular audience discovery tool for content marketers.  After an initial free trial, you have to pay for it, but if you’re trying to build an audience and relationships with influencers, it’s well worth the $99 a month. Why? Because with one keyword search, not only will you find the most popular articles about a topic in terms of shares and clicks, but also who the most influential people are within a niche AND who their followers are. So to continue with our fictional Virtual Assistant service, let’s say we want to cater to startup founders. So I type â€Å"startups and virtual assistants† into the BuzzSumo search box and see which articles have had the most engagement over the past year: Then I click on â€Å"View Sharers† to see who has been engaging with the post. I see that Stephen Bronner, news director for Entrepreneur has been sharing the article, which tells me he thinks his followers would find value in it. So now I can take a look at his followers. After scrolling through their bios, I spot an ideal candidate for Virtual Assistant services: a PR coach for entrepreneurs and startup founders: Now I can take a look at her Twitter profiles to get insights on her life and the lives of her  followers people who are starting their own companies and need help. Like this follower, who describes herself as a serial entrepreneur: BOOM. Target achieved. This person’s Twitter account is a window into her life. She tweets about where she likes to go to eat, the big projects she’s working on, her hobbies, the religious holidays she celebrates, the brands she likes. You can fill out an entire User Persona template with this information alone! Recommended Reading: This is the Marketing Research Process That Will Take Your Content to the Next Level 7. Customer Surveys Let’s say that you’re an established company looking to shift to a customer-centered content marketing strategy. Your current customers are an invaluable resource for insights. Just ask them about their lives. Pioneering content strategist Colleen Jones  says customer surveys are a great way not only to determine user behavior (what they do), but also the emotions and motivations leading to their decisions (what they’re feeling): â€Å"If you want to assess your success at producing effective content marketing, you need useful, actionable feedback about it. That means you need to know what people think about your content. Surveys are an invaluable way to find out.† Here are some customer survey tools you can try out for free: Survey Monkey- The most popular contender, Survey Monkey has a great reputation for being easy to use and having a step-by-step tutorial to walk you through the survey-building process. However, to export the survey data you collect, you’ll have to upgrade to a paid version. Typeform- Typeform’s survey templates are slick and beautifully designed, which means your participants are less likely to abandon ship mid-survey out of boredom. Google Forms- Simple, straightforward, free, and easy to access via your Google Drive account. Need help coming up with some good questions? Michael Patterson, CEO of marketing research software Hotjar has come up with a great list of customer survey questions  that get into the minds (and hearts) of your customers. Recommended Reading: How to Use Social Media Listening to Create Better Content for Your Audience 8. Quora If you lack a customer base or even a list to send audience surveys out to, Quora can be an invaluable tool to grab information about your target customer’s needs  Ã¢â‚¬Å"in their own words.† Don’t just look at the most-upvoted answers: sometimes the replies to expert answers can provide you with deeper insights into your target user’s world than the more polished expert responses. Quora can be an invaluable tool to grab information about your target customer’s needs9. Twenty20 Confession time: I’ve spent more time than I should looking through Twenty20’s gorgeous curated stock photo collections, in search of The Face of the User Persona for my clients. Why Twenty20 as opposed to the kajillions of other stock photography sites out there? Because Twenty20 sources and curates photography that looks like real people’s lives instead of glossy studio sessions. Here’s what you should look for in a great User Persona profile pic: A headshot of one person- Your user persona represents an individual, not a group. Personality-  Unless you’re creating content for a modeling agency, your user persona is probably not a fashion model. Look for pictures of everyday folks. Match the data demographics-  If your research suggests that the majority of users in your niche are 50-something white-collar professional women, don’t use a headshot of a 20-something tattoo artist. In their natural environment- Try to find a picture that shows your User Persona where she’d be using your product or service. Above all, User Personas should represent and look like the real people you're creating content for. Here are some other examples of great User Personas to help give you a kickstart in creating your own. (Source: Xtensio) Recommended Reading: How to Make the Best Social Media Images the Easy Way (+84 Free Images) Note how in-depth the above persona is in terms of Alyssa’s desire to balance her creativity with her business sense.   This is a great starting point for giving a â€Å"voice† to a brand’s content: that of a passionate artist who wants to be a success without being a â€Å"sell-out.† So based on the information I gathered using the tools above for my fictional Virtual Assistant service, here’s the User Persona I created using the Xtensio template tool: On the other end of the persona spectrum, we have MailChimp’s multiple User Personas. (Source: MailChimp) These visually appealing Personas aren't as specific in their narratives as Xtensio’s, but they still offer psychographic data for inspiring content. Even though these Personas lack a written story, the specificity of the look, dress, and descriptive text communicate volumes about each individual. To achieve this Portrait style persona, all you need is: A graphic design tool like Canva  or Photoshop, A great stock photo, A list of personality traits and motivators. Here’s what I made in Canva using the same Virtual Assistant target user: How to Create Your Own Persona in Canva Here’s a quick example showing how you can create one that is similar: After opening Canva, select â€Å"Create a Design† Select the â€Å"Blog Graphic† template from the Blogging eBooks section Upload your stock photo (or you can choose from Canva’s collection of stock photography and pay a $1 to download it) Drag and drop the stock photo as the background to the layout Free stock photo from Pexels.com Select the Heading text tool and start typing the personality trait keywords.  Choose various fonts, sizes or colors as needed. You can change the angle of the text by selecting the text box, clicking on the Rotate tool (the circular arrow at the bottom of the text box), and rotating the text box around. It's Time to Start Creating Better User Personas Alright: you've now assembled a well-stocked persona toolkit.   It's time to get to work! Have fun creating your User Persona- and if you've made one you're particularly proud of, feel free to share it with us!

Tundra Biome - The Habitat Encyclopedia

Tundra Biome - The Habitat Encyclopedia The tundra is a terrestrial biome that is characterized by extreme cold, low biological diversity, long winters, brief growing seasons, and limited drainage. The harsh climate of the tundra imposes such formidable conditions on life that only the hardiest plants and animals can survive in this environment. The vegetation that grows on the tundra is restricted to a low diversity of small, ground-hugging plants that are well-adapted to survive in nutrient-poor soils. The animals that inhabit the tundra are, in most cases, migratory- they visit the tundra during the growing season to breed but then retreat to warmer, more southern latitudes or lower elevations when temperatures drop. Tundra habitat occurs in regions of the world that are both very cold and very dry. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Arctic lies between the North Pole and the boreal forest. In the Southern Hemisphere, the Antarctic tundra occurs on the Antarctic peninsula and on the remote islands that lie off  the coast of Antarctica (such as the South Shetland Islands and the South Orkney Islands). Outside of the polar regions, there is another type of tundra- alpine tundra- which occurs at at high altitudes on mountains, above the treeline. The soils that blanket the tundra are mineral-deprived and nutrient-poor. Animal droppings and dead organic matter provide the bulk of what nourishment is present in tundra soil. The growing season is so brief that only the topmost layer of soil thaws during the warm months. Any soils below a few inches deep remain permanently frozen, creating a layer of earth known as permafrost. This permafrost layer forms a water-barrier that prevents drainage of meltwater. During the summer, any water that thaws in the upper layers of the soil is trapped, forming a patchwork of lakes and marshes across the tundra. Tundra habitats are vulnerable to the effects of climate change and scientists fear that as global temperatures rise, tundra habitats might play a role in accelerating the rise in atmospheric carbon. Tundra habitats are traditionally carbon sinks- places that store more carbon than they release. As global temperatures rise, tundra habitats  may shift from storing carbon to releasing it in massive volumes. During the summer growing season, tundra plants grow quickly and, in doing so, they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The carbon remains trapped because when the growing season ends, the plant material freezes before it can decay and release the carbon back into the environment. As temperatures rise and areas of permafrost thaw, the tundra releases  the carbon it has stored for millennia back into the atmosphere. Key Characteristics The following are the key characteristics of tundra habitats: extreme coldlow biological diversitylong wintersbrief growing seasonlimited precipitationpoor drainagenutrient-poor soilspermafrost Classification The tundra biome is classified within the following habitat hierarchy: Biomes of the World Tundra Biome The tundra biome is divided into the following habitats: Arctic and Antarctic tundra - Arctic tundra is located in the Northern Hemisphere between the North Pole and the boreal forest. Antarctic tundra is located in the Southern Hemisphere on remote islands off the coast of Antarctica- such as the South Shetland Islands and the South Orkney Islands- and on the Antarctic peninsula. Arctic and Antarctic tundra supports about 1,700 species of plants including mosses, lichens, sedges, shrubs, and grasses.Alpine tundra - Alpine tundra is a high-altitude habitat that occurs on mountains around the world. Alpine tundra occurs at elevations that lie above the tree line. Alpine tundra soils differ from the tundra soils in polar regions in that they are usually well-drained. Alpine tundra supports tussock grasses, heaths, small shrubs, and dwarf trees. Animals of the Tundra Biome Some of the animals that inhabit the tundra biome include: Northern bog lemming (Synaptomys borealis) - The northern bog lemming is a small rodent that inhabits the tundra, bogs, and boreal forests of northern Canada and Alaska. Northern bog lemmings eat a variety of plants including grasses, mosses, and sedges. They also feed on some invertebrates such as snails and slugs. Northern bog lemmings are prey for owls, hawks, and mustelids.Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) - The arctic fox is a carnivore that inhabits the Arctic tundra. Arctic foxes feed on a variety of prey animals that includes lemmings, voles, birds, and fish. Arctic foxes have a number of adaptations to deal with the cold temperatures they must endure- including long, thick fur and an insulating layer of body fat.Wolverine (Gulo golo) - The wolverine is a large mustelid that lives in boreal forest, alpine tundra, and Arctic tundra habitats throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Wolverines are powerful predators that feed on many different mammal prey including rabbits, voles, lemmings , caribou, deer, moose, and elk. Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) - The polar bear inhabits the icecaps and Arctic tundra habitats in the Northern Hemisphere including areas of Russia, Alaska, Canada, Greenland and the Svalbard Archipelago. Polar bears are large carnivores that feed primarily on ringed seas and bearded seals. Muskox (Ovibos moschatus) - The muskox is large hoofed mammals that live in the Arctic tundra. Muskoxen have a sturdy, bison-like appearance, short legs and long, thick fur. Muskoxen are herbivores that feed on grasses, shrubs and woody vegetation. They also eat moss and lichens.Snow buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) - The snow bunting is a perching bird that breeds in the Arctic tundra and in some areas of alpine tundra such as the Cairngorms in Scotland and the Cape Breton Highlands in Nova Scotia. Snow buntings migrate south during the winter months to escape the tundras coldest temperatures.Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) - The Arctic tern is a shorebird that breeds in the Arctic tundra and mig rates 12,000 miles to over-winter along the coast of Antarctica. Arctic terns feed on fish and invertebrates such as crabs, krill, mollusks, and marine worms.

Patient Privacy Policy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Patient Privacy Policy - Research Paper Example Patient Privacy Policy Evaluation process of the policy involves using questionnaires to different departments in hospitals: workers, patient, and tests on the responsibilities that are played to observe the policy. The evaluation is in terms of the responsibility of each individual, the release of information, employee related information and enforcement of the policy (Danis, Clancy & Churchill, 2002). Evaluation on responsibilities tests the understanding on the importance of respecting the rights of patients by keeping the information on their health private and the need to be sensitive to the concerns when using or disclosing the health related information. The evaluation process also focuses on understanding the policy concerning the protection of confidential information in public areas. Evaluation also is on understanding the accountability for maintaining the privacy of its patient and the confidentiality that is in the information. There are situation that the policy to keep the information of the patients private as it is disclosed in some situations such as those for law information officials as part of an investigation when the patient is a victim of a crime. Once the information is disclosed, the information of the patient is not private as it is to the public and can be known to other people. This is a problem in implementing the policy, as there is no surety in using the information only for investigation purposes.

Global Marketing Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global Marketing Communication - Essay Example Global Marketing Communication is assisted a great deal by how this article has been penned down. What this suggests is the fact that the global marketing communication realms are assisted by now the new forms of social media are brought together, and how these embody the basis of understanding that is reached upon by the people who shall bring about the vital changes and developments. The world of viral media is a leaf out of the global marketing communication theory where the emphasis is on getting the job done and that too in a quick manner. There is emphasis on how this global marketing communication theory is received by the audiences in scattered places of the earth and how linkage is developed whereby they can interact with one another on the click of a mouse or through the stroke of a key4. There are a number of understandings that can be deciphered by the people who mean just about everything for this new form of business, and how this shall bring in success for the world of viral media. The global marketing communication is such a broad concept that it takes into consideration the strengths of the social networking tools and the manner under which there are adequate developments can be made, all of which are mentioned in an able capacity in this article. Engagement remains the key within the global marketing communication theory and this has been emphasized upon at length through the reins of this article5. What is even more interesting is the fact that creativity wins the argument hands down and makes the people realize the true potential of the world of Internet and its related forms – an aspect that has been touched deeply by the theory of global marketing communication. In essence, a great deal of comprehension is born from the realms of global... What this suggests is the fact that the global marketing communication realms are assisted by now the new forms of social media are brought together, and how these embody the basis of understanding that is reached upon by the people who shall bring about the vital changes and developments. The world of viral media is a leaf out of the global marketing communication theory where the emphasis is on getting the job done and that too in a quick manner. There is emphasis on how this global marketing communication theory is received by the audiences in scattered places of the earth and how linkage is developed whereby they can interact with one another on the click of a mouse or through the stroke of a key. There are a number of understandings that can be deciphered by the people who mean just about everything for this new form of business, and how this shall bring in success for the world of viral media. The global marketing communication is such a broad concept that it takes into conside ration the strengths of the social networking tools and the manner under which there are adequate developments can be made, all of which are mentioned in an able capacity in this article.   Engagement remains the key within the global marketing communication theory and this has been emphasized upon at length through the reins of this article. These are important undertakings that the theory of global marketing communication has to realize to grab the best available market share in the long run scheme of things.  

The secret sharer Essay Example for Free

The secret sharer Essay The secret sharer by Joseph Conrad, is a tale of two strangers who meet in unusual circumstances. Legatt who was the first mate of the Sephora, escapes his ship where he was held captive after murdering a member of his crew. He swims to another ship and admits the whole truth to the captain. Both the captain and Legatt have bad relationships with their crew and they empathise with each other. Legatt is to be kept secret from the crew. His secrets are that he has murdered and is hiding to escape punishment and death. The captains secrets are that his men, the ship and the responsibility of his first command daunt him. The two of them share these secrets with each other and an intense relationship is built between them. Thus giving the title The secret sharer.. The captain and Legatt share physical similarities, they are the same size. My sleeping suit was just right for his size (pg6-7) And they share a very close resemblance of each other; this is reflected in the description of Legatt by the captain. The shadowy, dark head, like mine (pg 7) Legatt and the captain share very similar backgrounds, which draw a closeness and bond between these two men. They both attended the same sea school. Youre a Conway boy? (pg 7) And there was only a two-year difference in age. . but being a couple of years older (pg 7) Throughout the story you can feel the connection Legatt and the captain share by both feeling complete strangers on board the ships. I knew very little of my officers! (pg 2) The complete lack of knowledge and bond is felt here between the captain and his crew. In the beginning of the story, the captain is very uneasy when he is thrown into the position of captain, of a ship traveling a long and arduous journey. The captain begins to feel insecure about running his ship and questions his ability to lead his ship. During one of the first nights on board the ship, the captain demonstrates his thoughts of insecurity and self-consciousness, when he does something that a captain would not normally do: he plans to take part in a night watch. I felt painfully that I a stranger- was doing something unusual when I directed him to let all hands turn in without getting an anchor watch. (pg 4) The captain is so self- conscious and insecure about his actions that he reacts almost painfully to the crews judgement of his orders. The captain states that he perceives himself to be a stranger amongst the others. Among his insecurities, the captain also sees himself as a stranger to himself and not fit to run his own ship. But what I felt most was my being a stranger to the ship: and if all the truth must be told, I was some what of a stranger to myself. The captain feels isolated and completely in the dark where his crew and ship are concerned, he is a complete stranger to them. . ship of which, I knew nothing, manned by men of whom I knew very little more. (pg 4) Legatt and the captain are both aware of feeling strangers aboard the ship, this draws a bond between them and closeness and understanding of each other builds their relationship. My second mate. But I dont know much more of the fellow than you do(pg 12) I was almost as much of a stranger on board as himself (pg 12)

A Dream Deferred :: essays research papers

What happens to a dream deferred?Does it dry uplike a raisin in the sun?Or fester like a sore-And then run?Does it stink like rotten meat?Or crust and sugar over- like a syrupy sweet?Maybe it just sagslike a heavy load.Or does it explode?While Langhston Hughes authors this poem, A Dream Deferred, it can easily be interpreted as Toni Morrison's description of Nel and her life of sorrow and dissatisfaction. Sula and Nel, the protagonists in Toni Morrison's Sula, are each the only daughters of mothers whose distance leaves the young girls with dreams to erase this solitude and loneliness. There is no question that Sula alleviates this aloneness with a lascivious and experimental life, "I'm going down like one of those redwoods. I sure did live in this world"(143). Nel, however, for the most part, fails terribly at realizing her dreams and experiencing a happy existence. Compromising her individuality, her emotional stability, and her dreams mark Nel's banal and unfulfilling life.Early in Nel's life during a trip to New Orleans, she watches as her mother is humiliated by a train's white, racist conductor; she watches the indignity of her mother's having to squat in an open field to urinate while white train passengers gaze; and she watches her mother's shame at her own Creole mother's libidinous lifestyle. Her mother's submissiveness and humiliation evokes a fear, an anger, and an energy in Nel. Her emotions intensify as she makes a declaration to never be her mother, to never compromise her individuality, "I'm me. I'm not their daughter. I'm not Nel. I'm me. Me"(28). Figuring that her "me-ness" will take her far, she exclaims "I want...I want to be... wonderful"(29). However, that trip to Louisiana "was the last as well as the first time she was ever to leave Medallion"(29).Initially, Nel's self-declaration empowers her to pursue that dream of independence. She gathers power and joy, and "the strength to cultivate a friend in spite of mother"(29). Nel achieves a degree of her self-described "me-ness," her dream, a separation from her subservient and disgraceful mother, resulting in a new found complacency, "Nel, who regarded the oppressive neatness of her home with dread, felt comfortable in it with Sula"(29). This happiness was present in both girls, "Their meeting was fortunate for it let them use each other to grow on"(49). Unfortunately, as she left Medallion only one time, Nel would discover and enjoy this "me-ness" only one time.

French and Indian War

The French and Indian War, a colonial manifestation of the same forces and tensions that erupted in the European Seven Years' War, was, quite simply, a war about expansionism. The French and the English were competing for land and trading privileges in North America; which lead to land dispute, particularly the Ohio Valley. Each nation saw this territory necessary to seize to increase its own power and wealth while limiting the strength of its rival. Although the war itself occurred from a simple being, its consequences were far- reaching. The English had won the war and decided the colonial fate of North America, but yet at the same time showed the beginning of a colonial revolution. After the war, the British ended their reign of salutary neglect, so the colonials would be watched under a closer eye. The British also raised taxes in an effort to pay for the war. Both of these postwar plans resulted in massive colonial displeasure and added to nationalism that eventually exploded in the Revolutionary War. Thesis Statement: Prior to the French and Indian War the colonists enjoyed salutary neglect, but soon after the defeat of France and the acquirement of French land, the almighty British implemented mercantilism, settlement restrictions, and several controversial duties in the colonies. Economic The French and Indian war took a large toll on the American Indians lives. The British took revenge against Native American nations that fought on the side of the French by completely off their supplies and forced these native tribes to follow their rules. Native Americans that had fought on the side of the British with the understanding that their cooperation would lead to an end to European invasion on their land were unpleasantly surprised when many new settlers began to move in. Furthermore, with the French presence gone, there was little to distract the British government from focusing its attention on whatever Native American tribes lay within its grasp. Colonists were forced to trade raw materials for goods. Ideological Relations Before the French and Indian War broke out, the main issue facing the two colonial powers was separation of the continent. The English were settled along the eastern seaboard, in Georgia, the Carolinas, and what the Northeastern United States is now. The French controlled Louisiana in the South and the far North, and Northeast Canada. The Cherokee and Choctaws inhabited the mountainous region in between the two powers and attempted to maintain their independence by trading with both nations. France regarded itself as possessor of all disputed lands in the west, including the Ohio Valley. The English needless to say, disputed the French claim. Although the French lay claim to far more territory than the English did, the French territory was lightly populated. Often French territory was not marked by the existence of outposts or towns but simple forts manned by only a few men. English territory, by contrast, was rapidly being populated. The pressures of a growing population, the desire for expansion, and impatience to gain access to the profitable fur trade of the Great Lakes region impelled an intense English desire to extend westward during the 18th century. Political During the late 1740’s, the British slowly moved to expand their land. In the 1740’s, they constructed a trading fort, Oswego, on the banks of Lake Ontario. In 1749, the Ohio Company, a group of Virginian investors, successfully petitioned the English crown for lands in the Ohio area with the purpose of building a settlement. The next year a conference was held in Paris in an attempt to sort out some of the conflicting claims. There was little progress was made. In 1752, the Marquis Duquesne assumed the office of governor of New France, with specific instructions to secure possession of the Ohio Valley. All of these small tensions set the stage for the French and Indian War to explode. Colonists now had to obey British laws that were enforced by these governors. These governors were appointed by the king or the proprietor. Colonial legislatures made laws for each colony and were monitored by the colonial governors. While the War has often been portrayed as merely a fight between England and France, the many Indian nations that lived in these regions played a pivotal role in both the instigation and the outcome of the conflict. The fight for control of the continent was a fight between three nations, and until the late 18th century it was not at all certain which one would win. The Indians, especially the five nations of the Iroquois, were exceptionally good at playing the French and the English against each other in order to maximize their own benefits. The French and Indian War was a guerrilla war of small skirmishes and surprise attacks. The land was unfamiliar to both the French and the English; the involvement of the Indian nations as allies in battle made an enormous difference. Faced with the greater resources of the British and lacking the advantage of their Indian allies, the French were left with little hope, and soon lost the continent. Prior to the French and Indian War the colonists enjoyed salutary neglect, but soon after the defeat of France and the acquirement of French land, the almighty British implemented mercantilism, settlement restrictions, and several controversial duties in the colonies. French and Indian War The French and Indian war happened because of the hatred between the French and English and because of the competition for land. Most of the war occurred in America and troubled the colonists greatly. They didn’t like having the British soldiers all over their country and having to deal with them everywhere. The relationship between Britain and its American colonies was dramatically altered after the French and Indian war because of the conclusion of the British salutary neglect and the new acts and policies England enforced on them.The American colonies began changing their opinions of the British after the French and Indian war when parliament took control. Parliament passed several laws and enforced numerous taxes, such as the Sugar act, which put a tax on sugar, wine and other goods, the Quartering act, which let British soldiers stay in the homes of the colonists and they had to feed and pay for them, then there was the Stamp act, which was most important because it effec ted every single colonist by imposing a tax on almost all printed documents in the colonies.This was done because of how much debt England was in after the French and Indian war. Colonists were enraged because they were so accustomed to the long period of salutary neglect and felt it unfair that England interfered with their lives in this way. Another factor that caused the British and their American colonies relations to change was their interference with the economics of the colonies.Prime Minister George Grenville reinforced the Navigation acts from the 1660’s, which forced colonists to only trade with England and said that all goods going from Europe to the colonies must pass through England so they can be taxed. The Navigation acts had been around for about a century but they had never been fully implemented until after the French and Indian war. The colonists were completely unaccustomed to being controlled by England so harshly.American colonists were sick of being tre ated so terribly by the British with all the new taxes and rules they had to follow, they started to have severe animosity towards England. Many colonists would protest, many smuggled goods, and just defied the acts claiming that Britain does not have the power to implement such laws on them. There were also fights that would break out between the British redcoats and the American colonists, the most important one being the Boston Massacre during which five people died because of the aversion between the redcoats and colonists.Eventually all of these intense skirmishes lead to a revolutionary war between America and England. The French and Indian war brought the colonies together as they found a common enemy. It made them realize that England could not rule over them anymore and they could do something about it. The French and Indian war turned people who were once loyal British subjects into anti-British protestors struggling for independence. French and Indian War The French and Indian war happened because of the hatred between the French and English and because of the competition for land. Most of the war occurred in America and troubled the colonists greatly. They didn’t like having the British soldiers all over their country and having to deal with them everywhere. The relationship between Britain and its American colonies was dramatically altered after the French and Indian war because of the conclusion of the British salutary neglect and the new acts and policies England enforced on them.The American colonies began changing their opinions of the British after the French and Indian war when parliament took control. Parliament passed several laws and enforced numerous taxes, such as the Sugar act, which put a tax on sugar, wine and other goods, the Quartering act, which let British soldiers stay in the homes of the colonists and they had to feed and pay for them, then there was the Stamp act, which was most important because it effec ted every single colonist by imposing a tax on almost all printed documents in the colonies.This was done because of how much debt England was in after the French and Indian war. Colonists were enraged because they were so accustomed to the long period of salutary neglect and felt it unfair that England interfered with their lives in this way. Another factor that caused the British and their American colonies relations to change was their interference with the economics of the colonies.Prime Minister George Grenville reinforced the Navigation acts from the 1660’s, which forced colonists to only trade with England and said that all goods going from Europe to the colonies must pass through England so they can be taxed. The Navigation acts had been around for about a century but they had never been fully implemented until after the French and Indian war. The colonists were completely unaccustomed to being controlled by England so harshly.American colonists were sick of being tre ated so terribly by the British with all the new taxes and rules they had to follow, they started to have severe animosity towards England. Many colonists would protest, many smuggled goods, and just defied the acts claiming that Britain does not have the power to implement such laws on them. There were also fights that would break out between the British redcoats and the American colonists, the most important one being the Boston Massacre during which five people died because of the aversion between the redcoats and colonists.Eventually all of these intense skirmishes lead to a revolutionary war between America and England. The French and Indian war brought the colonies together as they found a common enemy. It made them realize that England could not rule over them anymore and they could do something about it. The French and Indian war turned people who were once loyal British subjects into anti-British protestors struggling for independence. French and Indian War The French and Indian War also know as the Seven Years’ War, was the North American conflict that was part of a larger imperial battle between France and Great Britain. It was named by British and American forces fighting against French and Canadian forces associated with the Algonkian nations. It was the fourth of a series of wars. It sometimes was known as the Intercolonial Wars. It lasted from 1754-1763. The French and Indian War was diverse in that it arose in the colonies and spread to Europe when Britain acknowledged war on France in 1756 to begin the Seven Years' War (â€Å"French and Indian War†).It guaranteed the dominance of English- speaking people over North America and set the stage for the American Revolutionary War, or the American War of Independence (1775-1783). It originated as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies, but progressively grew into a world war between Britain on one side and the freshly formed United States. T he British and the French had been rebellious for colonial control in the Americas since the late 1600s.Both wanted access to profitable trade opportunities and to land for expanding reimbursement (â€Å"French and Indian War (Overview)†). Most of the French and Indian War was fought in Upstate New York and Pennsylvania over such sites as Fort Duquesne (Fort Pitt), Fort William Henry, and Fort Carillon. It was a particularly new-style American battle in that it contained mostly of guerrilla-type rebellious in the wilderness and alongside colonial borders. The war began in a struggle for control of the immense lands of the trans-Appalachian region, especially the Ohio River Valley.To exclude English settlers from lands they claimed, the French established a series of forts across the area. Both the French and the Indians were fighting for the land because of the resources, such as timber. Most of the Indians sided with the French because the British made a permanent settlement on their land which made the French very angry. Although the war with the French ended in 1763, the British continued to fight with the Indians over the issue of land privileges.â€Å"Pontiac's War† disappeared shortly after the Treaty of Paris was signed, and many of the battlefields including Detroit, Fort Pitt, and Niagara were the same. The Indians, already drained by many years of war, quickly surrendered under the aggressive British revenge. The issue remained a problem for many years to come (â€Å"French and Indian War†). The results of the war effectively ended French political and cultural impacts in North America. England expanded considerable amounts of land and immensely reinforced its grasp on the continent. The war, however, also had delicate consequences.It desperately worn the relationship between England and Native Americans and though the war seemed to support England's grip on the colonies, the effects of the French and Indian War played a major ro le in the fading relationship between England and its colonies that eventually led into the Revolutionary War (â€Å"French and Indian War (Overview)†). As George Washington said in his letter to John Augustine, â€Å"We expect every hour to be attacked by a superior Force, but shall if they stay one day longer be prepared for them† (â€Å"Letter to John Augustine†).As you can see, the French and Indian War, a colonial extension of the Seven Years War that devastated Europe from 1756 to 1763, was the goriest American war in the 18th century. It took more lives than the American Revolution. The war was the product of an imposing struggle, a brawl between the French and English over colonial terrain and prosperity. Within these global forces, the war has also been seen as a product of the restricted conflict between British and French colonists.

Scenario

Decision Form Period 5 Company____ 3 COPY I Price (per unit) Advertising Sales Corporate Identity Market research report Market 1 3090 EUR 6 mEUR MEUR Yes: ? x 2 Market 2 4420 FCU mEUR 3 Market 1 no. of ppl. Market 2 no. of ppl. Yes: ? Yes: ? Value Analysis 1 2 Sales Staff 120 90 Bid price for tender 2699 EUR/unit Relaunch (I – old) Introduction (I – new) Ecology 2. 6 4. 8 Technology COPY I – old COPY I – new COPY II – new 35 50 o. of ppl. no. of ppl. no. of ppl. COPY I R&D mEUR mEUR mEUR mEUR mEUR mEUR Purchasing Input Materials/Parts 30,000 units COPY I Production Volume Production Lines Investment Disinvestment Maintenance Rationalization 50,000 units Type B no. of new lines no. of line(s) mEUR /line mEUR /line 1 3 Type A no. of new lines no. of line(s) mEUR /line 1 mEUR /line 1. 6 Type C no. of new lines no. of line(s) mEUR /line mEUR /line ProductionProcess Optimization Investment in Environmental Technology Production Staff – hire (+) / dismiss (-) Training Non-salary costs Short Term Loans Long Term Loans Purchase of securities Dividends . 3 . 20 mEUR mEUR ppl. mEUR % mEUR mEUR mEUR % of net income Financing 5 30 COPY I Planned figures Sales Revenue* Return on equity Cash-Flow Market 1 100 mEUR % 15 10 mEUR Market 2 50 mEUR * Sales Revenue without Bulk Buyer and Request for Bids TOPSIMÂ ® – General Management | Version 13. 0 | Decision Form 8 Periods – Standard Scenario www. topsim. com

Haemodialysis essays

Haemodialysis essays Thousands of people suffer from acute renal failure which occurs when the kidneys lose the ability to excrete wastes, concentrate urine, and conserve electrolytes. Electrolytes are substances in solution consisting of various chemicals which can carry electric charges. They exist in the blood as acids, bases, and salts, such as sodium, calcium, potassium, chlorine, magnesium, and bicarbonate. Electrolytes are necessary to carry out electrical impulses from the brain to the nerves, muscles, and other tissues in the body. Without them death is a sure result. The urine produced usually decreases in volume because it is no longer being removed, and, in some cases, there may be no urine produced at all. This condition causes fluids and waste products to accumulate in the body. The blood stream overwhelmed with nitrogen type wastes such as urea. These waste products act as poisons when they accumulate in the body, damaging tissues and the functioning ability of many different organs. Approximately 3 out of 10,000 people admitted to the hospital are diagnosed with acute renal failure. (Mallick, 1999) The kidneys function is to filter out wastes and excrete fluid when the pressure of blood in the bloodstream forces blood through the internal structures of the kidney. Decreased blood flow is one cause of damage to the kidneys and may occur when there is extremely low blood pressure (hypotension) from trauma, complicated surgery, septic shock (toxin or bacterial waste infection like those excreted by E-coli), hemorrhage to arteries and veins, burns and dehydration. Other causes of kidney failure are acute tubular necrosis which is the damage of kidney cells due to a lack of oxygen. This may occur after toxic injury to the kidneys when they have been exposed to metals, solvents, certain antibiotics and other medications. Also, Myoglobinuria may cause damage to kidney tissue. This may be caused by rhabdomyolysis which results from a ...

Majority Government in Canada

Majority Government in Canada The way Canada elects its representatives and head of government is different from the process we follow in the United States. Winning a majority of seats in the Canadian Parliaments House of Commons has different ramifications than winning a majority in the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. In our presidential system, the head of state and the head of government is the same  person, and he or she is elected independently of the members of the American legislature (Senate and House of Representatives). But in a parliamentary system, theres a head of state and a head of government, and the head of government derives its power from the ruling party. In Canada, the head of state is the Queen, and the prime minister is the head of government. The ruling party determines who will be prime minister. So how does a party become Canadas ruling party? Majority Party Versus Minority Party in Canada The political party that wins the most seats in a general election becomes the governments ruling party. If that party wins more than half of the seats in the House of Commons or legislative assembly, then the party forms a majority government. This is the best-case scenario as far as a political party is concerned (but may not be ideal for voters, depending on how they voted), since it ensures they will be able to steer the direction of policy and legislation without much input (or interference, depending on your point of view) from other parties.  The parliamentary system of government makes party loyalty from Canadian politicians  all but assured. Heres why: A majority government can pass legislation and maintain the confidence of the House of Commons or legislative assembly to stay in power much more easily than a  minority government. Thats what happens when a party wins half or fewer than half of the seats in the House of Commons or legislative assembly.   In order to retain the confidence of the House of Commons and remain in power, a minority government has to work a lot harder. It will have to negotiate more frequently with other parties and possibly make concessions and adjustments in order to win enough votes to pass legislation.   Choosing Canadas Prime Minister The entire country of Canada is divided into districts, also known as ridings, and each one elects its representative in Parliament. The leader of the party that wins the most ridings in a general federal election becomes Canadas Prime Minister.   As head of the countrys executive branch, Canadas prime minister chooses the cabinet, deciding who should oversee the various government departments, such as agriculture or foreign affairs. Most of Canadas cabinet ministers come from the House of Commons, and occasionally one or two come from the Senate. The prime minister serves as chairman of the cabinet. Canadian federal elections are usually held every four years on the first Thursday in October. But if the government loses the confidence of the House of Commons, a new election may be called.   The political party which wins the second highest number of seats in the House of Commons becomes the official opposition party.   The prime minister and cabinet are the key decision-makers in Canadian government. Having a majority party makes their jobs much easier.

Target Population Needs at JHUSON Primary Care Clinic Case Study

Target Population Needs at JHUSON Primary Care Clinic - Case Study Example In addition, the two years funding by a philanthropist and the offer by Microsoft for both hardware and software installations as opportunities. On the other hand, one threat is the daily violence experienced in the area. One social factor playing out from this case study is that only 50% of the people in this location are enrolled in some medical insurance. In effect, another 50% of the population has no form of medical insurance. On the other hand, there is a high case put forward concerning expected emergency cases in the hospital influenced by the violence cases. In addition, there is a prevalence of respiratory diseases, teen pregnancy, personal and intergenerational drug and alcohol use in the neighbourhood. Observing these facts, which could bring emergency medical cases, ensures that the facility will be wary of emergency cases and thus avoid Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986 violations (Smith, 2002; Strickler, 2006). According to a Harris Poll conducted in 2002, most Americans preferred hospitals that had nurses with speciality certification (Advanced Practice Nursing Roles, n.d.). Therefore, with this external opportunity will help JHUSON employ nurses that were specialists in the common illnesses in the neighbourhood. In this regard, the neighbourhood will feel safe in the hands of specialists. Another external opportunity related to JHUSON’s business plan concerns the use of health information technology. With its quest of having the service a model for future HIT-enabled inner-city community-based models of care, JHUSON stands to benefit. The government has federal financial incentives to the health service providers that make meaningful use of the electronic method of keeping health records (Jha, DesRoches, Kralovec & Joshi, 2010). Thus, with the business tailored to come with a benefactor in a HIT in the form of Microsoft, the JHUSON service will stand to benefit in terms of financial initiatives offered to HIT users by the government.

How does information technology enable strategy in travel Assignment

How does information technology enable strategy in travel - Assignment Example Customer relationship management has also been facilitated through technology. The use of technology has allowed Airlines to enable their customers to make inquiries about travel arrangements into which immediate feedback is given via their customer care function. Additionally, communication with travel agents has been facilitated through technology which in return has allowed Airlines to effectively meet the needs and preferences of their customers as one of the objectives of strategic management (Gasson 1). More importantly, the application of technology has allowed companies within the travel and tourism sector to effectively monitor travel. This involves the use of travel tracking systems for Airlines. As a result of this, travel companies which employ these services are more reliable and secure to travel with their flights. Therefore, technology is argued to be a strategic plan that the travel companies have employed to attract and retain customers and in this regard make these companies more competitive within the travel business (Lewis, Janjaap and Alexander 24). Strategic management within air travel business involves marketing of travel services to current and new markets. Technology has been used as one of the enablers of marketing and promotion for airlines. This is achieved through the use of websites by air travel companies to communicate their business strategy, services, safety and reliability to their clients. In addition, the association of airlines with accommodation and hotel industry as presented within travel websites has made the travel companies more appealing (Gasson