Introduction to Slavic Mythology

Early Slavic mythology has been a challenge for historians to study. Unlike many other mythologies, there is no existing original source material because the early Slavs left no records of their gods, prayers, or rituals. However, secondary sources, mostly written by monks during the period in which the Slavic states were Christianized, have provided a rich cultural tapestry woven with the mythology of the region. Key Takeaways: Slavic Mythology The old Slavic mythological and religious system lasted for about six centuries, until the arrival of Christianity.Most Slavic myths feature gods who have dual and opposite aspects.A number of seasonal rituals and celebrations were held according to agricultural cycles. History It is believed that Slavic mythology can trace its roots back to the Proto-Indo European period, and perhaps as far back as the Neolithic era. The early Proto-Slav tribes split into groups, consisting of the East, West Slavs, and South Slavs. Each group created its own distinct set of localized mythologies, deities, and rituals based upon the beliefs and legends of the original Proto-Slavs. Some of the Eastern Slavic traditions see some overlap with the gods and practices of their neighbors in Iran. The Svantevit-Stone in the church in Altenkirchen. Heritage Images / Getty Images The predominant Slavic indigenous religious structure lasted for about six hundred years. In the late 12th century, Danish invaders began to move into the Slavic regions. The Bishop Absalon, an advisor of King Valdemar I, was instrumental in replacing the old Slavic pagan religion with Christianity. At one point, he ordered the toppling of a statue of the god Svantevit at a shrine in Arkona; this event is considered the beginning of the end of ancient Slavic paganism. Deities There are numerous deities in Slavic mythology, many of whom have dual aspects. The deity Svarog or Rod, is a creator and considered a father god to many other figures in Slavic mythology, including Perun, a god of thunder and the sky. His opposite is Veles, who is associated with the sea and chaos. Together, they bring balance to the world. There are also seasonal deities, like Jarilo, who is associated with the fertility of the land in the spring, and Marzanna, a goddess of wintertime and death. Fertility goddesses like Mokosh watch over women, and Zorya represents the rising and setting sun at dusk and dawn each day. Rituals and Customs The traditional annual Slavic holiday of Ivan Kupala. SERHII LUZHEVSKYI / Getty Images Many Slavic rituals in the old religion were based on agricultural celebrations, and their calendar followed the lunar cycles. During Velja Noc, which fell around the same time that we celebrate Easter today, the spirits of the dead wandered the earth, knocking on the doors of their living relatives, and shamans put on elaborate costumes to keep evil spirits from doing harm. During the summer solstice, or Kupala, a festival was held involving an effigy set alight in a great bonfire. This celebration was associated with the wedding of the fertility god and goddess. Typically, couples paired off and celebrated with sexual rituals to honor the fertility of the land. At the end of the harvest season each year, priests created a huge wheat structure—scholars disagree on whether this was a cake or an effigy—and placed it in front of the temple. The high priest stood behind the wheat, and asked people if they could see him. No matter what the answer was, the priest would plead to the gods that the following year, the harvest would be so bountiful and big that no one would be able to see him behind the wheat. Creation Myth Maslenitsa, representing winter and death in Slavic mythology. bruev / Getty Images In the Slavic creation myths, in the beginning, there was only darkness, inhabited by Rod, and an egg that contained Svarog. The egg cracked open, and Svarog climbed out; the dust from the shattering eggshell formed the sacred tree which rose to separate the heavens from the sea and the land. Svarog used gold powder from the underworld, representing fire, to create the world, full of life, as well as the sun and the moon. The debris from the bottom of the egg was gathered and shaped to make humans and animals. In different Slavic regions, there are variations of this creation story. They almost always include two deities, one dark and one light, representing the underworld and the heavens. In some tales, life is formed from an egg, and in others it comes out of the sea or the sky. In further versions of the story, mankind is formed from clay, and as the god of light forms angels, the god of darkness creates demons to provide balance. Popular Myths There are numerous myths in Slavic culture, many of which focus on the gods and goddesses. One of the best known is that of Czernobog, who was the incarnation of darkness. He decided he wanted to control the world, and the entire universe as well, so he turned into a great black serpent. Svarog knew that Czernobog was up to no good, so he took up his hammer and forge and created additional gods to help him stop Czernobog. When Svarog called for aid, the other gods joined him to defeat the black serpent. Veles was a god who was banished from the heavens by the other gods, and he decided to get his revenge by stealing their cows. He called up the witch Baba Yaga, who created a massive storm that made all of the cows fall from heaven down to the underworld, where Veles hid them in a dark cave. A drought began to sweep the land, and people became desperate. Perun knew that Veles was behind the chaos, so he used his sacred thunderbolt to defeat Veles. He was eventually able to free the heavenly cows, take them back home, and restore order to the land. In Popular Culture Baba Yaga is one of many Slavic folk characters appearing in pop culture. AlexStepanov / Getty Images Recently, there has been a resurgence in interest in Slavic mythology. Many modern Slavs are returning to the roots of their ancient religion and celebrating their culture and traditions of old. In addition, Slavic myth has made its appearance in a number of pop culture mediums. Video games like The Witcher series and Thea: The Awakening are heavily influenced by Slavic folktales, and Baba Yaga shows up in Rise of the Tomb Raider. In film, Disneys Fantasia features a sequence called Night on Bald Mountain, in which Czernobog is the great black demon, and a number of successful Russian movies like Finest, the Brave Falcon and Last Night all draw from Slavic legends. In the STARZ television series, American Gods, based on Neil Gaimans novel of the same name, both Zorya and Czernobog play important roles. Sources Emerick, Carolyn. â€Å"Slavic Myth in Modern Pop Culture.†Ã‚  Oakwise Reikja, https://www.carolynemerick.com/folkloricforays/slavic-myth-in-modern-pop-culture.GliÅ„ski, MikoÅ‚aj. â€Å"What Is Known About Slavic Mythology.†Ã‚  Culture.pl, https://culture.pl/en/article/what-is-known-about-slavic-mythology.Hudec, Ivan.  Tales from Slavic Myths. Bolchazy-Carducci, 2001.Morgana. â€Å"Creation Stories in Slavic Tradition.†Ã‚  Wiccan Rede, https://wiccanrede.org/2018/02/creation-stories-in-slavic-tradition/.

Racism, Prejudice, And Stereotyping - 850 Words

Racism, prejudice, and stereotyping are major issues in America. Racism is defined as â€Å"a set of beliefs that one’s own racial group is superior to other groups (Benokraitis, 2014, p. 185). The existence of racism comes hand to hand with hate groups. Hate groups are an organized group of individuals who demonstrates hatred against people of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or any other designated sector of society. One particular hate group that I would like to explore is â€Å"World Church of the Creator†. â€Å"World Church of the Creator† is a white supremacist group that considers itself a religion found on the proposition that the white race is â€Å"nature’s highest creation (ADL- World Church of the Creator, 2001). Hate groups have been around for many years, and don’t seem to be going anywhere any time soon. According to an article in the Washington Post, hate groups have rose for the first time in 2015. 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Difference in Sunni and Shia Muslims Free Essays

The difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims is not Islamic beliefs or spiritual differences, but politics. The division of Sunni and Shia Muslims started after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Sunni Muslims believed that the new leader of the Muslim nation should be elected out of those most capable of the job. We will write a custom essay sample on Difference in Sunni and Shia Muslims or any similar topic only for you Order Now Shia Muslims believed that leadership should be passed to his cousin or son-in-law. The leader was elected out of those most capable of the job. Abu Bakr was the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. The word â€Å"Sunni† in Arabic means â€Å"one who follows the traditions of the Prophet. † The word â€Å"Shia† in Arabic means â€Å"a group or supportive party of people. † They are also known as â€Å"followers of the Prophet. † Shias believe that Imams are descendants of the Prophet. Sunnis accept that the first four Caliphs were followers of Mohammad, but do not grant any kind of divinely inspired status to their clerics. Afghanistan is made up of 84 percent Sunnis and 15 percent Shias. Most Pashtuns are Sunni Muslims, while most Hazaras are Shia Muslims. In â€Å"The Kite Runner† Amir and Baba are Sunni Muslims and Hassan and Ali are Shia Muslims. Hazaras are generally Shia Muslims and Pashtuns are generally Sunni Muslims. They have different beliefs but between Amir and Hassan it does not make a difference. Hassan is called derogatory names by Assef and some others because he is a Hazara and a Shia Muslim. Amir is not because he is a Pashtun and a Sunni Muslim. How to cite Difference in Sunni and Shia Muslims, Papers

Operations Management Inventory Management

Question: Discuss about the Operations Management for Inventory Management. Answer: Introduction The retail industry of Australia is growing at a tremendous pace that results in an increase in the competition. Currently, the changes in the market trends have enforced the leading organisations to make changes in their operational strategies to survive in the battle of immense competition. Furthermore, changes have been noticed in the taste of the customers and the way people buy products from the retail stores. Hence, an effective management of operations has emerged to be a key factor in the success of retail stores in the present business scenario (Horngren, Datar, Rajan, 2012). The government policies have also changed for the retailer businesses in Australia that makes it difficult for any organisation to operate with traditional operations management strategy. Hence, it has become mandatory for any retail business to make necessary changes in the operational strategy and implement competitive tactics to survive and grow in the market. A retail store must provide goods in ti me and offer a variety of products to enhance its positioning in the market. The study has been developed to analyse a given case study on inventory management of Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre (Bianco Gamba, 2015). Hence, the primary aim of the paper is to analyse the current supply chain system of the organisation and recommend modern tactics of inventory management and procurement for the development of business. The paper presents the current inventory management and purchasing system of Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre. Additionally, it presents a discussion on the pros and cons of the traditional inventory management system. According to the findings, an appropriate supply chain and inventory management system has been presented for the Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre in the paper. Finally, the paper presents proper recommendation of a modern supply chain management system for the Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre to seek competitive advantage in the market (Jaber, 2009). Current Purchasing and inventory management process The existing purchasing and inventory management system of Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre can be identified as somewhat old-fashioned, to say the least. As the Purchasing and Inventory Manager at Brisbane Outdoor Power Centres Strathpine branch, it can be identified that the inventory management has been based on Saxons laissez-faire approach (Sepehri, 2011). Meanwhile, in order to maintain the three stores of Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre located in Mt Gravatt, Strathpine, and Ipswich (Burt, Starling, Dobler, 2013). In the case of maintaining stocks, the inventory managers of the three identified stores located at different locations have utilised the inventory of the other stores to create a sustainable supply chain management. Currently, the stock maintenance and inventory system of Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre look vulnerable to some extent (Schmidt, Foerstl, Schaltenbrand, 2016). Understandably, huge investment is required to improve the current stock maintenance level of the three stores. On the other hand, as the Purchasing and Inventory Manager of one of the stores of Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre, it must be mentioned that the existing purchasing and inventory management facility of the enterprise lacks integrated approaches (Adamik, 2008). Apparently, the inventory management system of the stores is looking out of the ordinary in compared to the other retail businesses. Saxons laissez-faire approach has been utilised to promote autonomous functions of the three stores. Moreover, in the case of shortage of inventory, the managers are allowed to shift the inventory as per the demand. Conversely, in the three stores, the product brands may vary due to lack of business regime. Decisively, the other market competitors operated within the same market have not preferred such traditional inventory management system (Lago Roque, 2007). Now, in the case of product purchasing for inventory and stock management, the managers of the three retail outlets have been given the responsibility and authentication to purchase the inventory according to the suitability and limit. Thus, the administration of Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre has put the significant responsibility on the managers to dictate purchasing terms (Chalos, 2007). Moreover, being one of the Purchasing and Inventory Managers of the firm, it can be identified that the three stores of the organisation have followed the different level of inventory management that is not suitable for long-term sustainability. Competitive advantages and disadvantages of the currently used process It can be seen from the above analysis that Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre uses a traditional method of purchasing and inventory system. Hence, the traditional supply chain process has certain advantages and disadvantages that influence the business of Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre. The primary advantages of the Brisbane Outdoor Power Centres inventory process are the hustle-free operations, minimum investment, and minimum space for inventory. Along with that, the disadvantages of the currently used process are the loss of reputation, shipment delay and poor stock management (Chopra Meindl, 2007). Hence, the advantages and disadvantages of the currently used process of Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre are discussed in details as follows: Advantages The advantages of traditional inventory management system are discussed herein below: Hustle-free operations: It can be seen that the inventory manager of every store operates individually. The inventory managers are not responsible for the inventory management of other stores. Hence, the workload of the employees reduces because of small area of operations (Mercado, 2008). Minimum investment: The cost of maintaining inventories reduces because the stores do not offer all products individually. Hence, there is a minimum investment required due to no extra inventory. Furthermore, the stores order products according to the demand of the consumers that minimise the cost of maintaining inventory (Fine, 2013). Minimum space for inventory: There is no need of maintaining a large warehouse of all three stores because the each store orders products individually. Hence, the cost of hiring or maintaining a warehouse reduces (Bag, 2016). On the other hand, the company does not need extra money to pay for more employees to maintain a common inventory. Along with that, the pressure of work for the inventory managers reduces because the inventory is located in the store itself. Disadvantages The disadvantages of traditional inventory management system are discussed herein below: Poor stock: It can be seen that the currently used process of procurement and inventory management of Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre provides it with a poor stock, which is not capable of meeting the changing demand of the customers. The customers need to wait for the products to arrive after ordering in the stores that reduces the satisfaction level of the buyers (Mentzer, 2011). Shipment delay: Unorganised ordering of products may lead to delay in shipments that create a chaos for the store managers. The orders that are made after the products are sold may lead to shipment delay. Hence, it is important for any store to manage adequate inventory to meet the growing needs of the customers in time (Handfield Nichols, 2009). Poor reputation: The shipment delay and poor stock may lead to loss of goodwill for the Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre. It is important to provide all types of products to the customers in time to enhance the reputation of the business. Appropriate supply-chain and inventory management system The above disadvantages shows that there is a need of an appropriate supply chain and inventory management system that can reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of maintaining adequate stock for all three stores. An appropriate supply-chain and inventory management system can be achieved by following the below mentioned strategies: Continuous Analysis and Manipulation: There is a need of regular market research for the Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre to estimate the fluctuation of the price of products (Martinez Ramos, 2014). Furthermore, a regular analysis and manipulation of new strategies helps to reduce the cost of inventory and increase the profitability of the company. Just-In-Time Strategy: Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre must use a just-in-time strategy to reduce the cost and space of maintaining adequate stock. On the other hand, the just-in-time strategy will help to increase the reputation of Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre in the market. Online Procurement and Inventory system: An online inventory management and procurement system can be utilised that will increase the efficiency of purchasing products (Berman, Krass, Mahdi Tajbakhsh, 2011). It will automatically alert the inventory managers regarding the exhaustion of stocks. Single inventory for all stores: A centralised warehouse can be used to increase the efficiency and cost of maintaining adequate stock. It helps to increase the range of products offered by individual stores of the company. Recommendations for restructuring the purchasing and inventory functions As the Purchasing and Inventory Manager at Brisbane Outdoor Power Centres Strathpine branch, a list of recommendation has been produced in the underlying section that must be utilised by Ms Belinda Green, the new CEO in order to improve the functionality of the three stores. Clearly, modern supply chain management theories, multi-period model, just-in-time inventory models and other professional standards must be developed within the inventory and procurement system to minimise the issues related to inventory management and business productivity. Contemporary Supply Chain Management: Online inventory management system must be promoted within the inventory and procurement management of the three stores to control the stocks and costs of inventory. Thus, the shortage of stocks and product variety can be controlled within the stores. Significantly, such supply chain management can add new dimension in inventory and purchasing facility of Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre. Apply Just-In- Time Inventory Model: Through the application of Just-In-Time model, the purchasing of inventory can be suitably maintained in the inventory management without affecting the budget. Invariable, such inventory model can increase the sales of products as well. Apply Multi-Period inventory Model: The multi-period inventory model can be utilised in the three stores of Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre to avoid shortage of products. Also, fixed-order quantity model can be taken into consideration for improved inventory management. Tactically, such improved inventory management model can improve the functions of inventory management. Cost efficient contemplation: The recent inventory and purchasing management of Brisbane Outdoor Power Centres outlets lacks suitable supply chain and logistics management. Therefore, the managers must introduce business regime identifying the standardised market suppliers of effective branded products. Moreover, such improved consignment agreements with the suppliers can minimise the cost of inventory and purchasing management. Promote Centralised Warehouse System: As Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre has three different outlets at three different locations, a centralised warehouse system must be recommended for sustainable inventory management. Thus, the inventory budget can be shortened. Clearly, the centralised warehouse facility would keep the balance between the reserved and return products restricting massive or unwanted purchase. Conclusion Under the leadership of Donald Saxon, Brisbane Outdoor Power Centres retail outlets have shown significant business propagation and market penetration. Decisively, the purchasing and inventory management system of the three outlets of Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre must be improved in order increase the productivity and sales. Under the current business scenario, Ms Belinda Green, the CEO of the firm must consider the review of the performance level of current purchasing and inventory management system of the firm to make several changes for the betterment of services. Critically, the managers of the outlets must take additional responsibility to promote innovation in the purchasing and stock management. Moreover, Ms Belinda Green must bring some strategic changes to put more investment in the purchasing and inventory management system of Brisbane Outdoor Power Centre. Through the identification of significant inventory management theories such as Just-In-time model, multi-period inve ntory model, and fixed order quantity model must be included in the current inventory and procurement system for sustainable business operations. References Adamik, J. (2008).Developing a strategic benefits program. Scottsdale: WorldatWork Press. Bag, S. (2016). Flexible procurement systems is key to supply chain sustainability.Journal Of Transport And Supply Chain Management,10(1). https://dx.doi.org/10.4102/jtscm.v10i1.213 Berman, O., Krass, D., Mahdi Tajbakhsh, M. (2011). On the Benefits of Risk Pooling in Inventory Management.Production And Operations Management,20(1), 57-71. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1937-5956.2010.01134.x Bianco, M. Gamba, A. (2015), Inventory and Corporate Risk Management.SSRN Electronic Journal. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2661384 Burt, D., Starling, S., Dobler, D. (2013).World class supply management. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Chalos, P. (2007). Reducing Inventory Cost.American Pharmacy,27(7), 40-44. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0160-3450(16)33263-9 Chopra, S. Meindl, P. (2007).Supply chain management. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall. Fine, C. (2013). Intelli-Sourcing to Replace Offshoring as Supply Chain Transparency Increases.J Supply Chain Manag,49(2), 6-7. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12018 Handfield, R. Nichols, E. (2009).Introduction to supply chain management. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Horngren, C., Datar, S., Rajan, M. (2012).Cost accounting. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Jaber, M. (2009).Inventory management. Boca Raton: CRC Press. Lago, A. Roque, D. (2007). Inventory cost saving benefits from the standardization of computer modular instruments.Omega,15(4), 331-337. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0305-0483(87)90021-1 Martinez Ramos, M. (2014). Interaction between management accounting and supply chain management.Supply Chain Management: An International Journal,9(2), 134-138. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13598540410527033 Mentzer, J. (2011).Supply chain management. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. Mercado, E. (2008).Hands-on inventory management. New York: Auerbach Publications. Schmidt, C., Foerstl, K., Schaltenbrand, B. (2016). The Supply Chain Position Paradox: Green Practices and Firm Performance.J Supply Chain Manag. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12113 Sepehri, M. (2011). Cost and inventory benefits of cooperation in multi-period and multi-product supply.Scientia Iranica,18(3), 731-741. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scient.2011.05.020.

Mark Cuban Essays - Marketing, E-commerce, Direct Marketing

Mark Cuban I. Situation Analysis 1. Background The Faith Mountain Company has experienced a great deal of success since opening in 1977. What Cheri and Martin Woodard began as a local store that sold herbs, related products, and antiques has slowly evolved into a major mail-order catalog company and retail store that develops, manufactures, and markets high-quality gifts, apparel, and home accessories. In 1991, Faith Mountain was still a relatively small company with less than 50 employees. However, sales have been steadily increasing for Faith Mountain, as they went from about $1.2 million in sales in 1987 to just over $5 million in 1991. In 1991 The Faith Mountain Company set for itself the overall goal of $25 million in annual sales by 1995, with $10 million coming from sales from the Faith Mountain catalog, $5 million from the retail division, and $10 million from the acquisition and development of another catalog company. Reaching these goals will have implications in all areas of operation, including expansion, human resour ces, marketing, and finance. 2. Industry Overview The Faith Mountain Company operates in the specialty mail-order industry. According to a study by Arnold Fishman of Marketing Logistics, the total mail-order sales in the United States in 1990 topped $200 billion, with consumer mail order at $98.2 billion. Of the consumer mail order, $40.7 billion was spent on services; $44.5 billion was spent on specialty merchandisers, and $13 billion on products from general merchandisers. Total mail order sales for 1990 reflected 10.1 percent of general merchandise sales, 3.2 percent of retail sales, 2.1 percent of consumer services, and 1.8 percent of gross national product for the year. On a per capita basis, Americans spent an average of $393 on mail-order purchases in 1990. Specialty mail-order vendors, such as The Faith Mountain Company, have a substantially greater share (77 percent) of consumer mail-order product sales than do general merchandising mail-order vendors such as J.C. Penney (23 percent). As credit card companies offer new inducements and incentives to customers who shop by mail, it is anticipated that shopping by mail will become more prevalent. However, third-class postage rate increases and the placement of taxes on mail-order goods in some states may have a negative affect on the mail-order industry. 3. Business Unit Analysis The Faith Mountain Company develops, manufactures, and markets high-quality gifts, apparel, and home accessories, distributing through use of two business units, the mail-order unit, which distributes catalogs four times per year and provided the bulk of the 1991 total sales with about $4.7 million in revenue, and the retail-store unit, which had revenues of nearly $300 thousand. Both units operated under the same premise, that they achieve competitive advantage by providing customers with superiority in merchandise, quality, and service. Faith Mountain gained superiority in merchandise by seeking exclusive marketing rights for products and by moving more towards private labeling. High standards of quality were provided to customers because Faith Mountain manufactured about 20 percent of its merchandise, which means they could customize and personalize products to an individual customers needs. Superior service was being achieved in the mail-order division by implementing a system designed to answer 90 percent of all customer service inquiries within the first two minutes, and service operators were authorized to do whatever it took to keep customers happy. However, pricing was also a priority to Faith Mountain, as customer service policies included guaranteed lowest prices. The retail store featured the same product lines as those in the catalog, but not all items from the catalog were sold in the store, and about 20 percent of the store merchandise was not offered in the catalog. Also, the retail store benefits substantially from the catalog, as the stores sales revenue and traffic increases after the release of a new catalog. Because the Faith Mountain Company is relatively small, the Woodards were able to successfully supervise nearly all facets of both the retail division and the mail-order division without much difficulty. However, with the Woodards intending to open another retail store and increasing their customer bases with the mail order division, they may have to rely on middle management to overtake some of the duties that they had previously handled. 4. Buyer Analysis The Faith Mountain Company had a specific target market in

How to Use Pinterest For Business The Ultimate Marketers Guide

How to Use Pinterest For Business The Ultimate Marketers Guide Pinterest is that fun platform where people plan unrealistic weddings, right? They can do that, but they can also do more. They look for recipes, plan their homes and so much more. After all, there are over 75 billion ideas  out there. What if your business was able to show potential customers how your product or services could help them actually accomplish their ideas? Using Pinterest allows your business to do just that. When your customers are searching for inspiration or solutions, your organization can be there to help them achieve what they want. However, you need to be strategic with your Pins. It’s easy to jump on to the platform and start saving Pins everywhere. In this post, we’ll show you exactly how to use Pinterest for your business, making it a key piece in your social media marketing strategy. Do This With : Did you know you can schedule Pins on your marketing calendar, and measure their performance with robust analytics, with ? Try it free for two weeks or schedule a demo to start saving time on social media marketing. Download Your Pinterest Marketing Strategy Template When you’re ready to actively start planning your Pinterest strategy, use our free template. In this post, well show you how to complete each slide, so you can build an effective and clearly documented strategy in no time flat. Pinterest is still relatively new in the world of social media. So instead of searching for all the need-to-know information you want, we compiled it into one infographic. Get the 411 on #Pinterest marketing with this handy infographic.Is Your Audience On Pinterest? The first step in using Pinterest for marketing your business is to figure out if your audience is even active on the channel. How do you do this? First, determine the demographic makeup of the 175 million people who use Pinterest. Then see if your target audience falls into that category. If they do, Pinterest may be the channel for you. The Demographics of Pinterest According to the latest data from Pinterest and other sources, this is the current demographic makeup of Pinterest users as of 2016. How to Determine If Your Target Audience Fits The Bill So now that you have a bit of background on the demographics of Pinterest users, how do they compare to your target audience? If your target audience is primarily female Millennials, it would make sense to start investing time into creating content for a Pinterest profile. If your audience doesn’t fit the current Pinterest audience demographic, it may not make the most sense to spend time creating content for this social media channel. Is your target audience active on Pinterest?Do Your Business Objectives Match What Pinterest Has To Offer? You’ve decided that Pinterest is something you want your social media team to invest in. So what’s next? You need to figure out how you are going to tie your business objectives to your Pinterest marketing strategy. How To Find Your Business Objectives Your business objectives are the overarching goals that have been created by upper management that need to be met by the end of the year. These are the objectives that every team in your company helps contribute to. Some example business objectives could be: â€Å"We want 60% of our audience to be millennials.† â€Å"We want to be the number one soft drink for women over 40.† â€Å"We want to sell more ski resort passes to college-aged vacationers.† Because these objectives are so high level, they’ve probably already been decided by your CEO, CMO, etc. Schedule a meeting or email them to find out exactly what those objectives are (if you don’t already know). Here's how to connect your #Pinterest #marketing strategy to your business objectives.How Is Being On Pinterest Going To Benefit My Business? The next thing you need to determine after you’ve gotten your business objectives is: How is being on Pinterest going to benefit my business? This question should be answered anytime you try something new. Your answers are going to vary based on what your business wants to achieve. There are two steps to this process, the first is determining what your business wants to achieve (your business objectives). Then your marketing team needs to determine if the suggested channel is going to be beneficial in helping you reach your goals. For example, if your business wanted to engage more with your customers and increase product recall, pinning your products to Pinterest could provide that benefit. If it makes sense to your marketing team, pursue Pinterest. You’ll never know if something works unless you try. How could #Pinterest marketing benefit your business?How To Create Your Pinterest Boards By now you’ll have set your account. You’re all ready to go. Until you realize your profile is completely blank. It’s time to add some boards. Boards are like groups that hold certain categories of pins. Each one of these boards has a title, which needs to be awesome enough to grab the attention of your audience and make them want to follow it. So how do you know what types of boards create? Recommended Reading: How To Create A Marketing Strategy That Will Skyrocket Your Results By 9,360% Create Boards Around Your Content Core Your content core is a special place where you take into consideration what your audience cares about and combine it with what you want to say. Your content core is basically the intersection between what your audience cares about, and your brand's expertise: Create Pinterest boards about topics in your core.   Once you have your board topics figured out you can move on to naming them. Record your content core topics in your template. How to Choose The Right Titles Pinterest suggests you should set your boards up like window displays. You want them to appeal to your audience’s tastes and also keep them coming back for more. Here’s a basic look at it from their perspective: Rebekah Radice takes Pinterest’s advice one step further with a few great ideas  that’ll help you choose memorable names for your boards. Make them: Eye-catching. Keyword rich. Content specific. She’s right. Start With: If you’re just starting out on Pinterest, come up with two different board ideas. Build those to start with. If you’ve been on Pinterest for awhile now, focus on cleaning up two of the Pinterest boards you already have. When going through your boards, make sure there aren’t any exact duplicates, make sure the links work, and add keywords to the descriptions. Maybe even rewrite descriptions, so they are stronger. So how do you set up your boards once you’ve decided on a title? First, go to your Pinterest profile and select Boards: After that, all you have to do is enter your board name. For this example, let’s say we’re a local farmers market. A great board title could be Seasonal Recipes. Record your board titles in your template. How should brands select #pinterest board categories and titles? Find out here.How To Curate Pins Something like 80% of the content shared on Pinterest are Repins (now called Saves). Start out by exploring Pinterest for content you think your audience will enjoy, and save that awesome stuff. When Pinning, abide by the 80/20 rule: Share 80% of other people’s content and only 20% of your own. For every piece of content that you share, that is yours, save four Pins from others. As you begin, your goals will be: Make connections with other pinners by following them, liking, saving, and commenting on their Pins. Build your content foundation with curated content to find your audience and build a following. Know what your niche likes so you can share more of that. Record the topics your curated content should cover in your template. Recommended Reading: How to Curate Content For Social Media To Help Boost Your Reach How To Create Your Pins While the 80/20 rule says that you should Pin 80% of your content, you’ll still need to figure out how to create the other 20% of those pins. Here’s how to do it. Writing Your Pin Descriptions Mitt Ray writes about Pinterest a lot. And he compiled some interesting data  to help you write better descriptions for your Pins so you can get the attention your content deserves. Mitt suggests that by writing a great Pin, your audience will have a better chance of finding your awesome content. Writing An Awesome Pin: Longer descriptions get the most Repins.  Aim for slightly more than 300 characters. Buzzfeed found that robust descriptions, especially if your image isn’t beautiful, interesting, or useful, combined with positivity  help get them more Saves and click-throughs. Include a link back to your site.  Adding a link back to your site will make your entire description a clickable link. Write a killer call to action.  If you want your Pins to convert, inspire Pinners to click through with an awesome call to action. Use keywords.  Your audience uses keywords to find the content they want. If you’ve focused your blog on an SEO content strategy, you’ve already located the keywords you know your audience is searching for, so include those in your descriptions. Mention others.  When you share other people’s content, mention them as a thank you. Plus, you’ll make more friends that way! How to Use Pinterest For Business The Ultimate Marketers Guide Pinterest is that fun platform where people plan unrealistic weddings, right? They can do that, but they can also do more. They look for recipes, plan their homes and so much more. After all, there are over 75 billion ideas  out there. What if your business was able to show potential customers how your product or services could help them actually accomplish their ideas? Using Pinterest allows your business to do just that. When your customers are searching for inspiration or solutions, your organization can be there to help them achieve what they want. However, you need to be strategic with your Pins. It’s easy to jump on to the platform and start saving Pins everywhere. In this post, we’ll show you exactly how to use Pinterest for your business, making it a key piece in your social media marketing strategy. Do This With : Did you know you can schedule Pins on your marketing calendar, and measure their performance with robust analytics, with ? Try it free for two weeks or schedule a demo to start saving time on social media marketing. Download Your Pinterest Marketing Strategy Template When you’re ready to actively start planning your Pinterest strategy, use our free template. In this post, well show you how to complete each slide, so you can build an effective and clearly documented strategy in no time flat.How to Use Pinterest For Business: The Ultimate Pinterest Marketing GuideWhat Should Marketers Know About Pinterest? Pinterest is still relatively new in the world of social media. So instead of searching for all the need-to-know information you want, we compiled it into one infographic. Get the 411 on #Pinterest marketing with this handy infographic.Is Your Audience On Pinterest? The first step in using Pinterest for marketing your business is to figure out if your audience is even active on the channel. How do you do this? First, determine the demographic makeup of the 175 million people who use Pinterest. Then see if your target audience falls into that category. If they do, Pinterest may be the channel for you. The Demographics of Pinterest According to the latest data from Pinterest and other sources, this is the current demographic makeup of Pinterest users as of 2016. How to Determine If Your Target Audience Fits The Bill So now that you have a bit of background on the demographics of Pinterest users, how do they compare to your target audience? If your target audience is primarily female Millennials, it would make sense to start investing time into creating content for a Pinterest profile. If your audience doesn’t fit the current Pinterest audience demographic, it may not make the most sense to spend time creating content for this social media channel. Is your target audience active on Pinterest?Do Your Business Objectives Match What Pinterest Has To Offer? You’ve decided that Pinterest is something you want your social media team to invest in. So what’s next? You need to figure out how you are going to tie your business objectives to your Pinterest marketing strategy. How To Find Your Business Objectives Your business objectives are the overarching goals that have been created by upper management that need to be met by the end of the year. These are the objectives that every team in your company helps contribute to. Some example business objectives could be: â€Å"We want 60% of our audience to be millennials.† â€Å"We want to be the number one soft drink for women over 40.† â€Å"We want to sell more ski resort passes to college-aged vacationers.† Because these objectives are so high level, they’ve probably already been decided by your CEO, CMO, etc. Schedule a meeting or email them to find out exactly what those objectives are (if you don’t already know). Here's how to connect your #Pinterest #marketing strategy to your business objectives.How Is Being On Pinterest Going To Benefit My Business? The next thing you need to determine after you’ve gotten your business objectives is: How is being on Pinterest going to benefit my business? This question should be answered anytime you try something new. Your answers are going to vary based on what your business wants to achieve. There are two steps to this process, the first is determining what your business wants to achieve (your business objectives). Then your marketing team needs to determine if the suggested channel is going to be beneficial in helping you reach your goals. For example, if your business wanted to engage more with your customers and increase product recall, pinning your products to Pinterest could provide that benefit. If it makes sense to your marketing team, pursue Pinterest. You’ll never know if something works unless you try. How could #Pinterest marketing benefit your business?How To Create Your Pinterest Boards By now you’ll have set your account. You’re all ready to go. Until you realize your profile is completely blank. It’s time to add some boards. Boards are like groups that hold certain categories of pins. Each one of these boards has a title, which needs to be awesome enough to grab the attention of your audience and make them want to follow it. So how do you know what types of boards create? Recommended Reading: How To Create A Marketing Strategy That Will Skyrocket Your Results By 9,360% Create Boards Around Your Content Core Your content core is a special place where you take into consideration what your audience cares about and combine it with what you want to say. Your content core is basically the intersection between what your audience cares about, and your brand's expertise: Create Pinterest boards about topics in your core.   Once you have your board topics figured out you can move on to naming them. Record your content core topics in your template. How to Choose The Right Titles Pinterest suggests you should set your boards up like window displays. You want them to appeal to your audience’s tastes and also keep them coming back for more. Here’s a basic look at it from their perspective: Rebekah Radice takes Pinterest’s advice one step further with a few great ideas  that’ll help you choose memorable names for your boards. Make them: Eye-catching. Keyword rich. Content specific. She’s right. Start With: If you’re just starting out on Pinterest, come up with two different board ideas. Build those to start with. If you’ve been on Pinterest for awhile now, focus on cleaning up two of the Pinterest boards you already have. When going through your boards, make sure there aren’t any exact duplicates, make sure the links work, and add keywords to the descriptions. Maybe even rewrite descriptions, so they are stronger. So how do you set up your boards once you’ve decided on a title? First, go to your Pinterest profile and select Boards: After that, all you have to do is enter your board name. For this example, let’s say we’re a local farmers market. A great board title could be Seasonal Recipes. Record your board titles in your template. How should brands select #pinterest board categories and titles? Find out here.How To Curate Pins Something like 80% of the content shared on Pinterest are Repins (now called Saves). Start out by exploring Pinterest for content you think your audience will enjoy, and save that awesome stuff. When Pinning, abide by the 80/20 rule: Share 80% of other people’s content and only 20% of your own. For every piece of content that you share, that is yours, save four Pins from others. As you begin, your goals will be: Make connections with other pinners by following them, liking, saving, and commenting on their Pins. Build your content foundation with curated content to find your audience and build a following. Know what your niche likes so you can share more of that. Record the topics your curated content should cover in your template. Recommended Reading: How to Curate Content For Social Media To Help Boost Your Reach How To Create Your Pins While the 80/20 rule says that you should Pin 80% of your content, you’ll still need to figure out how to create the other 20% of those pins. Here’s how to do it. Writing Your Pin Descriptions Mitt Ray writes about Pinterest a lot. And he compiled some interesting data  to help you write better descriptions for your Pins so you can get the attention your content deserves. Mitt suggests that by writing a great Pin, your audience will have a better chance of finding your awesome content. Writing An Awesome Pin: Longer descriptions get the most Repins.  Aim for slightly more than 300 characters. Buzzfeed found that robust descriptions, especially if your image isn’t beautiful, interesting, or useful, combined with positivity  help get them more Saves and click-throughs. Include a link back to your site.  Adding a link back to your site will make your entire description a clickable link. Write a killer call to action.  If you want your Pins to convert, inspire Pinners to click through with an awesome call to action. Use keywords.  Your audience uses keywords to find the content they want. If you’ve focused your blog on an SEO content strategy, you’ve already located the keywords you know your audience is searching for, so include those in your descriptions. Mention others.  When you share other people’s content, mention them as a thank you. Plus, you’ll make more friends that way!

Air Pollution law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Air Pollution law - Essay Example 30 billion (Colls 2002: p.1). One can agree with Colls (2002) who asserts, â€Å"Clearly we are paying a high price, both in lives and money, for polluting the atmosphere† (p.1). That’s why authorities and non-governmental organisations of all levels, from local to international, strive to establish regulations, standards and decision-making procedures for air pollution control. This paper is aimed to present an overview of major regulations in the air pollution control area at three levels: the world, the European Union and the United Kingdom. The overview will help to better understand similarities and differences in air pollution control on global and local scopes, as well as to trace the development of air pollution legislation. The first section introduces a concept of air pollution and gives a brief overview of its causes and effects, focusing mainly on hazards for health and environment. The following three sections describe current air pollution regulations, the ir predecessors and trends for the future development at the international level, in the EU and in the UK accordingly. In conclusion, the main points are summarised. 1. Air pollution, its causes and effects Air pollution was recognised as one of the major worldwide environmental problems in 1970s (UNECE 2004). In a broad sense pollution can be defined as â€Å"the introduction by man into the environment of substances or energy liable to cause hazard to human health, harm to living resources and ecological systems, damage to structure or amenity or interference with legitimate use of the environment† (Colls 2002: 1). The definition emphasises a determinative role of man in air pollution – only substances, which arise from people’s activities are counted as pollution; gases and chemicals produced in air naturally (e.g. from volcanoes or as a result of the vegetation decay) are not considered to be pollutants. The nature and intensity of people’s activities , the type of used chemicals and the surrounding meteorological conditions determine the composition and concentration of pollutants. It is widely acknowledged that motor vehicles produce the most toxic gases, and they are considered as the major source of outdoor air pollution. Outdoor air pollution is also caused by activities of industrial and commercial production plants, coal-fired power stations, cargo transports and other activities related to smoke and gas emission. Indoor air pollution is no less hazardous, in particular, in developing countries, where coal and biomass fuels are still widely used in homes for heating and cooking. According to WHO (2008), the air pollution level in such homes may be 10-50 times higher than maximum allowable values. Among pollutants having the most severe impact on health and environment are: â€Å"hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2), ozone, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), hydrogen sulfide (H2S)† (Clean Air World, n.d.). WHOE (2006) considers airborne fine dust, known as particulate matter (PM), as a very hazardous pollutant, which can be either emitted directly to the air or formed as a result of chemical reactions of certain gases (e.g. sulphur dioxide or ammonia (NH3)). There are also greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide