Category: Advice

Trying to break into the world of journalism, here’s what to expect, dealing with pitfalls and making it happen.

The Benefits of Facing Your Fears

(Feature image credit: A_B_C/Shutterstock)

American author David J Schwartz once said, “do what you fear and fear disappears”. There’s no shortage of quotes about facing your fears. They’re usually quite clichéd, but we shouldn’t overlook the truth behind the cliché.

Everyone feels fear. From an evolutionary perspective, it makes sense. Obviously getting chased by a pack of wolves is going to be scary. In that respect, fear has its place. But when it comes to our modern everyday fears, is there really anything to worry about? 

Most people have an extensive list of fears, from snakes and spiders to important client meetings and solo travel. But imagine how much easier life would be without those fears. Here’s how and why you should face your fears. 

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Disclosing an ‘invisible’ disability to your employer

“You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities. This includes progressive illnesses, such as HIV or cancer.”

Some disabilities are not immediately apparent. These are known as ‘invisible’ or ‘hidden’ disabilities. This means the individual may have to decide when is necessary to disclose their disability, which can be a tricky decision, particularly when it comes to employment.

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The Dilemma of Heathrow’s Third Runway

The airport expansion and the dilemma of Heathrow's third runway has been going on ever since the Roskill Commission was set up in 1968 to look into a potential third airport for London. 48 years on, following years and years of indecision, the current government has finally made a decision. They have boldly approved a third runway at Heathrow Airport. A decision which was likely influenced by Sir Howard Davies, who along with other members of the Airports Commission in 2015, collectively agreed that the best solution was to add a third runway to the north-west of Heathrow’s current pair. 

Whilst the Government has finally set its stance on its preferred option, next year there will be a statutory public consultation followed by a final decision being put to MP’s. 

 

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Why Your Business Needs To Be Blogging

Many businesses give a lot of weighting towards social media. Their constant need to keep using platforms such as Facebook and Twitter often seem misguided. Their needs to be a realisation that the quality of content produced is much more important than the quantity of social media platforms that the business has a presence on. 

Think back to fifteen years ago when many businesses were under the dilemma of whether to have a website or not. Nowadays having a website is not even a decision it’s a ‘must have’. In a similar nature, blogs in the coming years are going to be fundamental to a business’s success. 

 

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Re-branding successes and how it can effect your SEO

Marketing is crucial in this day and age, and business success can rely on effective marketing. Marketing is of course a wide realm but I will just focus company branding – the logo, logotype, colours, slogans and name which gives the company recognisability. Every now and again companies will change their branding – this might be a subtle change that goes unnoticed by most people, or it could be a drastic change with colour changes, style changes and even a name change. 

This leaves us to consider why it’s so important and why do companies feel the need to change branding which could be so recognisable? We looked at some notable brand changes in companies and whether they appeared successful, or just marketing faux-pas’. We also considered whether rebranding can affect your SEO and how to prevent a drop in the ranks.

 

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Local food abroad – Sometimes It’s a Better Idea to Pass the Temptation

The recent outbreak of the cyclospora infection in the luxury resort of Riviera Maya (Mexico), which is extremely popular with British tourists, is just another reminder that trying local food isn’t always a good idea. To make matters worse, people who became ill from this foodborne disease didn’t get it from eating food from street vendors or drinking water from the local wells. They got it from eating in luxury hotels where food is supposed to be safe. But apparently, it wasn’t. Fortunately, the tiny parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis that is responsible for the outbreak usually doesn’t pose any major threat to human health although the infection can be very unpleasant, not to mention that it can ruin your holidays.

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Your dream career vs your parents

It’s a well-known fact of family life that parents live their desired dreams through their children. Once you hit a certain age, employability success becomes harder to tackle and the opportunity to change careers becomes less likely.

It’s also a well-known fact that the famous saying from My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 ‘why do parents tell you to dream big, but not too big’ applies to each and every one of us – whether we like it or not!

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Where to find quality journalism

Low-brow tabloids are infamous for spinning nonsense headlines and bending the truth to fit their agenda. It’s impossible to know who to trust anymore. Ultimately, with so many news sites and Twitter, the ability to find out what’s going on in the world has become instantaneous. Instead of having the time to analyse what we read and forming an opinion based on different types of journalism. We see a tweet from the Daily Mail, take the update as legit and move on. But surely, if the news we receive is manufactured for speed then those who produce it cannot guarantee its authenticity. So what if what we’re getting isn’t the whole truth or even worse, not the truth at all?

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