 Little known fact: March is National Nutrition Month
One great aspect of digital media is that we have access to various types of information at a moment’s notice. Typically, we research foods that help our physical health, but there are also foods that stimulate your mental well-being. I’ve included a few of the foods that may keep you at peace during a long workday: 1. Fish According to studies, incorporating salmon and sardines into your balanced diet can improve mental health. These delectable eats have even been proven to reduce symptoms of schizophrenia, depression and ADHD. Presumably, the impact is due to a prevalence of omega-3s. 2. Whole Grains Whole-wheat cereal, wild rice and oats makes for a good fuel source for the brain and nerves in our bodies. 3. Lean protein What items contain protein? Oftentimes, these can be digested by consuming turkey, chicken, eggs and beans. Protein aids mental health by producing the neurotransmitter serotonin. This reduces the symptoms of anxiety and depression. 4. Greens Broccoli and spinach contain selenium, which is a mineral that strengthens the immune system. These items basically act as a B vitamin would in your body – reducing a lack of folate and serotonin.
0 Comments
 Strategy – A good strategic plan is key for any business, but strategy in social media is a separate entity from your general business strategic plan; this involves a social media review, editorial calendar and a plan to analyze results through listening or analytic software to measure ROI (return on investment)
Organization – Ideally, you’ll have a team that can create content content and monitor your social media pages for customer inquiries/complaints, while creating reports that outline how your content is actually performing Criticism – Every business owner faces criticism at some point; it’s better to embrace the criticisms and see what improvements can be made for your business; it’s never a good practice to hide criticisms about your business from the public; this shows a lack of transparency Inroads – Being connected with other digital media entrepreneurs can uncover valuable insight that can help you in the long run Accuracy – Ensuring that you are on brand and there are no typos/errors in your content is vital; through social media, it’s very easy to portray the wrong message to millions Latitude in creativity – Keep your own creative license; the worst thing you can do is limit how you portray a message, whether it’s through video or photography ------------------------------- Marketing – Understand the difference between marketing and public relations; marketing involves convincing new customers to have an interest in your company, while public relations focuses on cultivating and maintaining the audience you have currently Exposure – Contrary to popular belief, all exposure is not good exposure; if what you’re disseminating to the world digitally isn’t helping your reputation, it’s undoubtedly damaging it Diversity – Oftentimes, companies don’t focus on bringing a diverse group of employees to the table when making business decisions; social media is inherently composed of a diverse audience How can people of just one race and background create content to reach people they know nothing about? Interpretation – You have various resources at your fingertips to create a more direct, visual advertisement for your organization; for example, Adobe Spark is a great resource to create infographics, while Photoshop can bring a vibrant effect to your photographs in social Accrue new ideas – Each day you rise, you should reflect on your previous business ideas and brainstorm new ones for the day Ask yourself: How can you take your creativity to the next level today?  CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE TO VIEW THE VIDEO
 While social media is the most popular digital media tool, it is not the only one you have at your discretion. There are various types of digital media that can be used differently depending on your industry or business needs. Check out a few of the most notable digital media tools utilized by top businesses throughout the world: Digital Media Choices    The exploration of social media messaging and the consequential impact it has on the public is fascinating. If there are truly media gatekeepers that influence the public in both positive and detrimental ways, one can only imagine what is not being told. We err on the side of research and furthering knowledge to bridge any gaps in the news being relayed to us each day.
For this reason, we dived into the topic of food deserts and how certain promotional social media aspects can contribute to this plight. First, let’s break down what a food desert is and its causes. Food desert – An area that is vapid of quality produce (fruits, vegetables, etc.) usually found in poverty-stricken areas of the country. How can social media content contribute to food deserts? Here's how: 1. Glorification and advertisement of a specific type of food (often unhealthy) to certain geographic areas, based on socioeconomic factors If you’re a business owner and created a Facebook promotional ad in the past, you’ve noticed that you can create a target audience based upon location, interests, gender or age. Hypothetically, if someone was striving to sell a brand of fried chicken to a specific group, they could easily target their location and do so. From the results of the promotion, they could also in theory, analyze where most of their chicken-selling success is stemming from, only to go build more fried chicken places in areas that are typically undervalued - flooding areas with food that may eventually lead to their deaths. 2. Leaders in the grocery business owners making store locality decisions based off pessimistic chatter in social media A few weeks ago, we attended a local community forum where food deserts and a lack of grocery stores in a certain community was discussed heavily. The mayor attributed this issue to poor education and an inability to attract economic developers and healthy food businesses to the area. He explained that because the school system in the area is lacking, it keeps a diverse population from re-locating to the community and without community growth, businesses find nothing appealing about the area. These facts may be lined in truth, but social media can also be a key driver of enticing quality businesses to your area or repelling them. When typing the word “Birmingham” into the search bar of Facebook or Twitter, what are the first posts that arise? Are they about a growing community that takes pride in their area and lauds over their great food truck rallies, low cost of living, community events or notable national rankings that the city has acquired over the past few years? Or is the social media feed plagued with conversations of crime, health epidemics and political squabbles? Economic developers can recruit and ascertain as many business leader visits from all across the country as they would like, but if a CEO uses community discussions found publicly on FB as a key indicator of behavior, business safety and growth opportunities, grocery stores such as Kroger or Whole Foods will never come. This contributes to food deserts. 3. Less demand for health food creators due to social media marketing From a young age, food that is directly detrimental to our health is touted through social media; thus lessening the desire and demand for health food producers. In short, there are no limitations to how the use of social media can impact your mentality regarding food for years to come.  1. Outline goals for your organization
No two businesses are alike. Companies have varying values, budgets, messaging and culture. What do you want to achieve through social media and how does that look for your organization? 2. Complete social media audit We typically believe that an "audit" can only be connected to finances. However, an audit can be any type of business source review in order to discover errors or uncover more fruitful methods to achieve your company goals. Whether there are existing social media accounts connected to your business or you're creating magic for the very first time, it's good to know what digital resources are already available or needed. 3. Analyze which social platforms closely align with your mission The key theme of YouTube is video. Facebook is a great tool for paid media and Instagram focuses the majority of its stock on photography and visual aspects. Twitter has been repurposed as a news powerhouse that disseminates content to millions at the speed of light. Which of these fills your particular business needs? Focusing on one platform simply because it's popular at the time could be detrimental to growth if it doesn't satisfy your business needs. 4. Monitor competitors The idea of a competitor review is not dedicated to copying or imitating how another business is maneuvering digitally. This review is to discover any pitfalls that organizations may have fallen victim to in order to avoid the same missteps. For example, a representative from national television network, BET, decided that it would be humorous to poke fun at rapper Nicki Minaj in relation to an award that fellow rapper Cardi B won at the Grammy's. The offensive tweet prompted Minaj and her label to back out of an upcoming BET performance and their lack of participation undoubtedly will cost the network money for years to come. In short, don't be BET. 5. Create social media editorial calendar By mapping out what content should be placed on which platform each day at least one month in advance, current business hours can be utilized to focus on reactive measures that may be necessary to respond to threats or product issues from customers in social media. There may be unplanned content that comes in throughout the month, but it can be supplemented on a necessary basis. 6. Choose quality listening and content engagement software to measure results; engage customers This is crucial if your goal for social media is to boost engagement, sales and establish a good business reputation in social media. Regions Bank grabbed the reigns of its brand on social media from would be impostors after it was discovered that an individual was impersonating the bank in a negative manner. From that point, a department was created geared toward social media inquiries and Salesforce listening software - Radian 6 - was acquired. When setting up listening software, make sure to choose good keywords directly related to your business, industry and products in order to pull the most applicable conversations regarding your brand from social media. Much of the software dedicated to this is costly, but there is a free listening software called Hootsuite you can try. 7. Edit social media plan based on analytical findings Result and return on investment - these are aspects that drive advertising dollars, business continuity and the vitality of your company. Make sure that you are constantly reviewing new updates or changes in social media stay in line with developing trends.  By Ashley Rogers
Last year, we had the opportunity to speak with the CEO of Shipt, Bill Smith, this week about how his company has flourished in the digital realm since getting its start in Birmingham. Shipt launched in the summer of 2014 in the heart of the Magic City. Through a user-friendly app and a local network of reliable shoppers, Shipt connects members to fresh groceries and everyday essentials. Saving time, fuel and head space, next-hour, same day grocery delivery is quickly becoming an everyday necessity for people looking for an extra few hours and a variety of food choices. Question: Tell us about your company. Bill Smith: The idea for Shipt became clear to me after my wife and I shopped for groceries for the first time after we had our second child. I had no idea how hard grocery shopping could be until we were in the store with a crying newborn in one cart and a one year old in another cart. I knew this had to be a bigger challenge that went beyond new parents, and realized there was an opportunity to build something truly useful for anyone who couldn’t make it to the grocery store. Shipt’s main goal is to utilize our digital resources to give people their time back so they can focus on the things that matter most to them — whether it’s spending time with family, pursuing hobbies or careers, or just enjoying that precious time that would be spent shopping. Shipt has grown into one of the largest grocery delivery services in the country. We started small here in Birmingham and quickly grew to other cities nearby. We’re currently in over 45 cities, with plans to keep growing. So many people have come together to build Shipt into the company it is today, and I’m proud of the work we’re doing. Question: How did you get your start in business? Smith: I got my first job working at a small convenience/grocery store in rural Cullman County at age 11. I discovered computers a couple years later, and began building and selling them on my own. This led to jobs with an internet service provider and a wireless phone company during and after high school. I learned that customer service is king in retail, which applies to everything we do at Shipt today. Question: Did you always want to be an entrepreneur? Smith: I got a briefcase for Christmas when I was five, so I think that answers it! While I did well in school, I was always more fascinated by people than books. I wanted to understand what made them tick, what their needs were, why they might choose one thing over another. I haven’t stopped asking those questions and trying to place myself in others’ shoes. In my previous businesses, customers have come from a range of backgrounds and neighborhoods, often very different from my own. The same is true for Shipt. I love finding common ground, understanding customers’ stories, and based on that, trying to help solve a meaningful problem in their lives. Building a successful business is all about solving real problems and relationships, and the opportunity to connect with people every day is what gets me out of bed. Click here to learn more about the grocery delivery service that is taking the nation by storm.  Through analysis, we stumbled upon some fascinating facts about millennials backed by statistics. A person is considered a millennial if they were born somewhere between 1982 and 1995.
IMMEDIATE RELEASE BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After years of creating short stories, poems and novels that produced awe-inspiring visuals of love, passion and adventure, Birmingham native Ashley Rogers released her first short novel on April 17, 2018. “Choices” is available on Amazon and is currently a hot seller in the Birmingham area. Rogers personifies the heartfelt relationship between two twin sisters as they deal with the deadly effects of domestic abuse, independence and redemption in this thrilling, coming-of-age novel. In the book, Leila and Lila Evans fight to escape an abusive figure, but later realize more dangers await them. They soon discern that they can only be redeemed through the choices they make moving forward. The 27-year-old author knew from a young age that writing was deeply engrained in her being. The journey to the publication of “Choices” began almost seventeen years ago when Rogers was chosen to attend the Birmingham Young Author’s Conference by her fifth grade teacher at Sun Valley Elementary School. Rogers was just a fifth grade student excited to ascertain all she could to immerse her growing passion for writing into the lives of every individual she could find. As she sat with each featured author at the conference, Rogers studied their style, sapience and originality. Consequently, she learned how a narrative can take shape without a clear ending being uncovered in the writer’s psyche. She was taught the fanciful and sometimes fanatical leaps and bounds that a writer must take to convince, haulage, hook and draw in an audience. Throughout the following years of Rogers’ life, she grasped for any facet that involved writing whether it was fictional, persuasive, creative or poetry. She began to delve deeper into writing as she reached college, majoring in print and broadcast journalism at the University of Montevallo with a minor in public relations. While attending the University of Montevallo, Rogers was a staff writer with the University of Montevallo’s Alabamian Campus Newspaper, anchor/live reporter of UM’s Falcon Weekly broadcast and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. She also landed a valued internship at a well-renowned Birmingham news station, Alabama’s 13 News. She would go on to receive her Master’s in Public Relations from Kent State University. During her journalistic endeavors after graduation, Rogers contributed her writing capabilities to the financial industry in the digital communications and social media marketing departments of Fortune 500 Company Regions Bank for 3 years. In later years, she offered her expertise in media relations, social media creation, press releases, web content, photography, videography and article writing for what was formerly the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce. Rogers finds her true haven in producing fictional, yet inspirational creative content for an audience of pre-teens, young adults and those young at heart. “Ashley’s passion for creating quality content that goes to the heart of her readers is unmatched,” said Jimmie Washington, supervisor of supply chain management at Alabama Power and the co-head of media relations at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church along with Rogers. “Her intelligent perspectives on life bleed onto her paper, as she writes the stories the world needs to hear.” When asked what drives her to write, Rogers had this to say. “An amazing, passionate, lyrical, soulful, emotional escape--- this is what writing means to me. It encompass thoughts about life, relationships and emotions that flow like stream water through every core of my being. It house every single piece of me. This is how it's always been and how it will always be.” Purchase “Choices” in digital or paperback form: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1980868042. For more information, visit https://www.primandpropernews.com/ or email Ashley Rogers.   Fifty-four years ago on this day, four young women were brutalized in a church bombing during the heat of the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham, AL - forever polarizing and paralyzing the nation. Since the African American church was the epicenter for strategic planning, resistance and perseverance in the 60s, it also became a target for white supremacist groups like the KKK. Although the tides of racially disproportioned waters were turning with efforts from leaders like the honorable Martin Luther King Jr., there were still scare tactics and propaganda that supported a segregated and hopeless society.
Around 10:30 a.m., Sunday, September 15, 1963, 200 church members witnessed unsuspecting terror that shattered the walls and windows of 16th Baptist Church, along with the hearts of the families and members impacted by the gruesome KKK act. 14-year-old Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson and 11-year-old Denise McNair, would not survive the blast. Ten-year-old Sarah Collins lost her eye while in the basement with the other girls. It would be over a decade before anyone would be brought to justice for the grisly murders. In 1977, Klan leader Robert E. Chambliss was brought to trial for the bombings and convicted, but died in prison in 1985. Klan member Thomas Blanton was convicted in 2001 and Bobby Frank Cherry was convicted in 2002. Although this unspeakable horror brought a dark light to Birmingham, the city continues to use the catastrophic events of the past to build a new future for human and civil rights. |