Google Linking and the Principle of Mutual Benefit
Business on the Internet – Internet Linking Explained – Based on Mutual Benefit – not as different from offline business as you may think.There seems to be a certain mystique about technology today, especially about the Internet. I remember in the early 90′s before I got on-line, I had read dozens of magazine articles on the Internet.This was way before Google and even before AOL. I was led to believe that the Internet was some vast medium for entertainment, and it sounded similar to TV, except unlike TV, you could choose what to watch.What I found when I finally got on-line, was that the Internet was not really about entertainment at all. It was more like a vast Electronic Library of information, except that unlike books, the electronic pages were “linked” together. I was fascinated that you could move instantly, (well not exactly, since I had a dial-up modem connection), from one page to another one, with a simple click of the mouse. We all take this for granted now, but as my daughter asks me, “What was the world like before the Internet” ? It is so much a part of many of our lives that it is hard to imagine the world without it.At the time, I wondered, why no one could tell me that the Internet was like a big electronic library, where web sites were like electronic magazines all linked together. It seemed so simple for me to explain once I experienced it, but everything I had read up until that point had fallen short, and failed to describe it adequately.The same thing is true, it seems of business on the Internet these days. If someone knows how to market on the Internet, they are treated like a guru. Why is it so hard to find someone who will explain how to do business on the Internet in a clear and straightforward way, that every one can understand ?Through this simple introductory article, I will try to demystify one essential Internet business strategy called Linking, or as defined by the most popular search engine on the planet, Google Linking.It is important to remember that the vast majority of businesses in the US are still what I would call brick and mortar businesses. There is a building with a street address, that has overhead, and all that goes with it. If you have a “brick and mortar business”, and you want to stay in business, and become successful, you need to provide a valuable product or service to your customers, and treat your customers well, regardless of the type of business you run.Think of either businesses you have worked for in the past, (even your own), or places you like to visit to shop, or even companies you know where you would like to work, if you were given the chance.If you want to just survive, you can do business as usual, without changing anything, (if you are lucky, that is), but if you want to grow your business, you must subscribe to the principle of “Mutual Benefit”. In other words, you must make your customers happy, and yourself happy at the same time. In fact, both parties must share equally in this mutual benefit. If you or your customer are happy when the other is not, the relationship will inevitably break down.In addition if there is never any kind of personal relationship, as well as an offer of a good quality product or service at a reasonable price, there also may not be a long term relationship.There is sort of a Law of the Universe at work here, and the Universal Law applies to an Internet business just as well as it does to a typical “brick and mortar” business. The only real difference is that you may never actually meet your customers face to face. That is not to say that you can’t have a personal relationship with them. They will just have to get to know you, and you will have to get to know them, through the medium of the Internet.If you overcharge your customers, you will find them searching out your competitors. If you let your customers dictate your prices, or the level of service you provide to them, and let them take advantage of you, than you will not be happy about their return business.Often, this seems like a delicate balancing act between you and your customers, but those who strike the right balance will have plenty of return customers year after year. If you are trying to get rich quick, just like in mainstream business, you are very likely to be sadly disappointed.Think back to all the companies you worked for in the past. If you evaluate these business from the perspective of mutual benefit, you will discover something very interesting. First of all, those that merely survived and those that thrived will have either followed this principle closely or ignored it.Also, those that followed the mutual benefit principle were enjoyable places to visit as a customer, or as an employee. Those that disregarded mutual benefit were likely distasteful places to work, or even worse, what I would call “living nightmares”. What is good for my customer, and good for me in equal proportion, that is what determines long term success.The same is true on the Internet. Don’t ever think that you can cheat someone on the Internet. Sooner, or later, you will likely fall flat on your face, and be sadly disappointed at the outcome.Think of all of the relationships you made with your customers as “links” to prosperity. The quality and quantity of these relationships are the measure of a healthy business. These relationships did not come easily, they had to be earned.Internet Business, works the same way. Think of all of the electronic links to your site as friends of your business, even if they have never, and most likely will never purchase your product or service. Treat them all with respect as though they were your customers. The quantity and quality of these links will determine the type of page rank your site will have.This is not easy, and in fact, involves some plain old hard work, in terms of as time and effort. If you pursue the appropriate keywords for your industry that have a reasonable amount of traffic, and get these keywords from another site “linked” to your site, especially high quality sites with a good page rank, you will find yourself with plenty of quality traffic to your site that you will be able to convert into sales.I am reminded of a book, by Ray Esquith called “There are no Shortcuts”. He is a Disney Teacher of the year, and a well respected elementary school teacher in urban LA, who quite simply works harder at teaching than any one else, and his students produce superior results year after year.There are web sites all over the Internet promising quick riches for little or no work. How many people actually made money in the Gold Rush, and how many just sweated it out ? There is simply no push button or lazy man’s way to riches on the Internet, just as in mainstream business. Unfortunately, there are too many unscrupulous marketers on the Internet, who promise much and deliver little or nothing, to fools who are eager to part with their money.If you want to earn a high page rank on Google, you can;t push a magic button, and you can’t buy your way there, you have to earn it. Look at CNN.com for example. This web site has a page rank of 9 out of a possible 10. There are probably hundreds of people creating and editing content that changes on a moment to moment basis, on their web site. CNN.com had (at last check), over 180,000 web pages that link to it. Is it any wonder that their web site is so highly rated ?Don’t be scared and think that your small business has to become like CNN. The best and fastest way to get your site to the top of the search engines is, surprisingly to write a press release. Don’t get scared off by this, it really is no big deal. You just have to become a miniaturized, small scale, cnn.com correspondent to begin your journey to success on the Internet. In the days before the Internet, you would not have any hope of this, but now thanks to the Internet you can become a mini cnn.com and be successful with a very small percentage of the success of CNN.com.What your press release will do is create a back link to your web site that will rate very highly with Google. How do you start ? Begin by thinking like a tiny CNN correspondent. Is there anything that might be interesting or newsworthy about your business ? It doesn’t need to be something that would featured in the newspaper or on TV.This is mini-journalism, or micro journalism. It is the new medium called the World Wide Democratic Web, where even the little guy can get the attention he deserves. Find something interesting about your business, and sit down in front of the computer and write about it. This is not as traumatic as you might think. Keep it to the point. Keep it simple, choose only one topic at first, and try to make it interesting.Don’t forget to never use the first person, always write in the 3rd person in an objective and straightforward manner, stating fact and not opinion. Don’t sell, tell, instead. Everyone on the Internet wants information. If you do not strictly observe this rule, your press release will not be accepted.Make sure that you have done your research on Google, (“Google keywords” is a good place to begin). There are a number of sites to get good information on which keywords to select. Use Google and just type in whatever you want to find out. Keywords that are specific to your industry are the most valuable because they are the most relevant, even though they might not generate a great deal of traffic. Always be on the lookout for keywords that are relevant, and have substantial traffic.It is better to be listed in the top 3 pages for a category that has 1 million references, then page 10 of a 50 million hit category. (Check the number of hits on the top right of the page on Google each time you do a Google search). Note: if you are trying to challenge a very large category such one with 50 million hits, you may need to employ additional linking strategies over and above what is mentioned in this article. It may even be wise to hire a Search Engine Professional to assist you. By the way, if you lay a good foundation for assistance by a “SEO Pro”, by following these methods, you will have saved yourself a great deal of expense. You may also find an SEO Strategy company with very reasonable rates.Write using these keywords several times in a short 250-300 word article, and submit your press release using one of the free press release sites on the Internet. Write as many press releases as you can over a 30 day period. 10 releases are good, 20 are even better. You can also send them out to several different press release sites. Read their guidelines for submission and learn their rules. Always make sure to put a link to your web site, in the correct section.Try this for 30 days, and see what is does to your listing on Google ! You may be very pleasantly surprised.
What are anti-ligature blinds?
Anti-ligature blinds are becoming increasingly popular in a range of different settings. The way these blinds differ from traditional blinds is that they are designed to prevent suicide by hanging.
Initially, uptake for this type of blind was largely restricted to high-risk environments such as psychiatric hospitals and prisons, where suicide is common. In mental health environments and detention centres, suicide via hanging is common and preventative measures must be implemented. A huge range of objects could be used to create a ligature point, meaning anti-ligature systems are highly important.
Over the years, anti-ligature blinds have been supplied to hospitals, schools, student accommodation and even hotels.
How do they work?
There are a range of different systems on the market, but the most reliable could well be the magnetic anti-ligature system. YewdaleKestrel® products utilise load release magnets which separate when a downward force is exerted on the product. This means that the product falls to the ground safely and prevents suicide via hanging.
The magnetic systems used in Yewdale’s products are highly reliable because magnets don’t lose their strength for hundreds of years, guaranteeing a lifetime of lifesaving functionality.
Anti-ligature blinds usually have a magnetic connection point above the blind’s barrel. The blind is easy to reconnect to the magnetic bracket after it has fallen to the floor.
If you are considering an anti-ligature blind, Yewdale is a highly recommended company. Based in the UK, Yewdale produce a wide range of anti-ligature products, commercial blinds, and healthcare products including hospital cubicle tracks and medical curtains.
Yewdale produce other anti-ligature products too including a soft, lightweight en-suite door and other accessories such as soap dispensers, toilet roll holder, shelves and artwork. You can see the full range on the website using the link below.
Complete weight loss strategy
For those who want to lose weight
Research on the causes of obesity, knowledge about weight loss, and various diets for weight loss are updated every year. However, with the update of knowledge and the release of diet pills one after another, the obesity rate continues to rise every year, and there is no sign of wanting to decline. I used to be very, very fat, and I am also a person who is prone to obesity.
So I understand the voices of fat people, I really want to lose weight, but I tried many ways to lose weight at that time without success.
I have tried the common boiled meals on the market, eating less and moving more, but it was not until I tried other diets that I managed to lose weight. After I lost weight, I began to study the essence and method of losing weight, and wrote him in this weight loss strategy article, hoping to help you.
A few key myths about losing weight
The weight loss myth of eating less and moving more
The phrase “eat less and move more” is actually true, but most people do it wrong. Many people think that they should eat less of everything, so they limit their calories to a very low level, and it feels a bit like eating an ultra-low-calorie fairy meal. Then, for the hyperactive part, the first thing that everyone thinks of is aerobic exercise such as running, cycling, etc., but in fact, this is a very short-term and easy way to regain weight, mainly because eating too little is an easy way to lose weight. The reason for the loss of muscle mass, coupled with the fact that aerobic training is not helpful for muscle mass growth, causes the metabolism to drop too much.
Maybe you can lose 5 kilograms in this way, but if your metabolism declines, you will easily regain the weight. And it’s all the fat that gets back up, not the muscle you lose that makes you look fatter than before. This is what we call the yo-yo effect, lose weight, get fat back, get fatter than before, lose weight, get back on Fat, get fatter than before.
Stop taking diet pills and meal replacements
At this time, you may start to seek other ways, eat weight loss meal replacements, taking diet pills, and so on. But believe me, most diet pills will inevitably hurt the body, especially the gastrointestinal tract. You may actually lose weight in the moment, but when your gastrointestinal tract is damaged, you will be fatter than before.
The key to understanding how to lose weight
You must have thought, why some people will not gain weight no matter what they eat, while some people will gain a kilogram the next day after eating a little bread? What is the cause of obesity? This is not a simple answer that can be solved!
You can see the link to the picture below, mainly talking about the influencing factors of obesity, which are very, very complicated.
Image source: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/296290/obesity-map-full-hi-res.pdf
In the middle of this picture is the heat balance
So we can know that calorie balance is very important
But this article doesn’t keep preaching that calorie balance is the key to losing weight like other sites
If you don’t know what calorie balance is, you can probably imagine that our body has calorie consumption (exercise, thermogenesis, basal metabolism), and calorie intake (eating).
When calorie consumption exceeds calorie intake, the weight will drop, so the truth of weight loss is to eat less and move more, very simple. In the short term, it is really possible to simply achieve weight loss by eating less and moving more, but simplicity is not simple, because the operation of the body is very complicated. Many people think that they can control their calorie consumption, that they can achieve a lot of calorie expenditure by running all the time, and that eating fairy meals (low-calorie meals) can reduce calorie intake and then easily lose it.
However, according to research, 90% of people who use calorie control, eat less and move more to lose weight will fail or regain the weight.
Because eating less and moving more for too long, metabolism will easily drop, hormones will easily become imbalanced, and muscle mass will easily be lost. Even if you lose 10 kilograms, you will easily regain weight.
When losing weight, the body is like a factory
For me, the key to long-term weight loss and maintaining good posture is the environment in the body, such as hormones, the level of inflammation in the body, and the gastrointestinal system.
Think of the body as a factory
-Your hormones are the managers and workers of factory operations
-Inflamed condition is how good factory machinery and hardware are
-Calorie intake is wages for factories as well as fuel
If the manager of this factory is an idiot, or if the hardware in your factory is completely rotten, then no matter how it works, it will create a pile of waste. Just as our hormones are already out of balance and the level of inflammation in the body is very high, no matter how much you eat, if you don’t solve the existing problems, it will easily accumulate into fat. It may be easier to understand with a few examples.
Hormones vs Weight Loss
This study looked at the effects of sleep and weight loss
Research source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20921542
Both groups of humans were calorie-restricted, but one group slept 5.5 hours a night and the other 8.5 hours. Both groups lost weight, but the group that slept less lost 55 percent less body fat and 65 percent more muscle mass than the group that slept more. It is equivalent to losing weight, but most of the loss is muscle mass, which reduces metabolism and makes it easy to regain weight later.
There is such a big difference mainly because poor sleep has a negative impact. The imbalance of the secretion of these things will easily increase fat and reduce muscle.
This next study looks at the effect of insulin sensitivity on body composition!
Research source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19471290
Basically, many chronic metabolic diseases, obesity, and poor muscle-building effects are closely related to low insulin sensitivity. Insulin is an anti-catabolic hormone whose main function is to store nutrients in cells. For example, after heavy training, our muscles will be more sensitive to insulin, and the nutrients we eat will be more easily absorbed into the muscles. When insulin sensitivity is low, the nutrients we eat are more likely to be stored as fat rather than absorbed into muscles.
We can simply say that the nutrients in the food eaten by people who are insulin insensitive are more likely to be stored as fat, and the relative fat mass will be much higher than the muscle mass.
To put it simply, the key to losing weight is actually to improve hormones, improve inflammation in the body, and add an appropriate calorie deficit. It is not difficult to achieve a calorie deficit. What is more difficult is how to choose the type of food that suits your body to improve hormones and achieve a long-term good body.
If you only pursue short-term weight loss and rely on a lot of calorie deficits to achieve the effect of weight loss, and then the hormones are still the same after the loss, then I can guarantee that you will gain weight very easily.
With so many ways to eat on the internet, which diet should I try?
When talking about losing weight in Taiwan 30 years ago, everyone would definitely want to use boiled meals
When it came to losing weight five years ago, everyone might think of using a low-sugar diet. When it came to losing weight in the past two or three years, everyone might directly think of the ketogenic diet.
I lost 30kg in 3 months on a low-sugar diet myself for the first time, so I used to believe that a low-sugar diet was the best way to lose weight
But after my long-term understanding of weight loss-related research, genetic cognition, and observation of students, there is no diet that is most suitable for everyone! Although it is said that high-carbohydrate foods will most stimulate insulin secretion, which in turn promotes the storage of nutrients into fat, some people are naturally good at metabolizing carbohydrates, so they can still be healthy and strong after eating high-carbohydrate throughout their lives.
For example, this study compared the responses of people with high and low insulin sensitivity to high- and low-carb diets.
Research source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1038/oby.2005.79
The study concluded:
-For people with high insulin sensitivity, eating high-carb and low-fat to lose weight is very helpful
-However, people who are insulin insensitive use a high-carb low-fat diet to lose fat, but the weight loss effect is not so good.
But on the contrary, studies have also shown that people with low insulin sensitivity have a very good weight loss effect on a low-carb high-fat diet, which shows that improving insulin is very important for weight loss, and it also shows that people with insulin insensitivity are more suitable
Lose weight with a high-carb diet.
So if you have been obese for a long time, you know that you eat carbohydrates easily, or you know that you have diabetes in your family and want to lose fat, then I would suggest that you can start by reducing carbohydrates, which is what we call low carb diet!
The Negative Impact of E-Levy on Mobile Banking.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Mobile Banking is a service provided by a bank or other financial institution that allows its customers to conduct financial transactions remotely using a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet.
Electronic Transaction Levy or “E-Levy” is a tax applied on transactions made on electronic or digital platforms.
ADVANTAGES OF MOBILE BANKING
Mobile banking offers numerous benefits such as ease of transaction, convenience, time-saving, managing your finances, and budgeting. Some advantages of Mobile Banking in remote areas include:
Financial Inclusion — mobile banking offers convenient and easy banking services to people in remote areas. Thus, it allows banking on the go and offers all benefits of a banking system to rural areas without the presence of a financial institution.
Accessing the bank 24/7 — Mobile banking provides ubiquitous banking services without the need to visit the bank to have access to services. This offers time to benefit and ease of transacting at a distance.
Cost-benefit — Mobile banking saves the banks the cost of building physical infrastructures (branches) and maintaining branches and staff. Also, reduced costs on the customer side since the burden of visiting the bank for services is eliminated.
Improving resilience in the face of poverty — Mobile money acts as both a savings vehicle and a means of transferring funds during times of economic or environmental shocks.
Strengthening the formal economy — For many micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), opening a mobile money account can facilitate access to formal financial services. Mobile money is well placed to address the issue of informality that blights many developing economies and hampers domestic resource mobilization efforts. Mobile Money enables ease of transacting, thus increasing business profits for MSMEs.
Facilitating economic growth — Mobile money has been shown to contribute to economic growth by increasing both productivity and per capita incomes
DISADVANTAGES OF E-LEVY ON MOBILE BANKING
The design of mobile money taxation policy appears to be the antithesis of a well-designed tax system. The disadvantages include:
Inequity — Mobile money taxes as currently structured to create inequity in the tax system. As the tax is mostly borne by the poor and users of the services are subject to additional taxation (unlike bank or cash transactions), the principles of both horizontal and vertical equity in the tax system are contravened.
Uncertainty -. Uncertainty and lack of transparency over taxation systems can have a direct impact on the operations of the tax authority, increasing enforcement costs, as well as discouraging investment.
Inconvenience — The administration of mobile money transaction taxes creates an inconvenience for MMPs who must calculate and collect the tax on the revenue authority’s behalf. There is an additional inconvenience for users of the service for whom remote digital transactions become more expensive or out of reach if they revert back to cash.
Inefficiency — Badly designed mobile money taxes have been shown to have a distortionary impact on demand for mobile money services. This in turn has had negative impacts on overall tax takes, as well as impacting the attainment of national economic and development goals.
EFFECT OF MOBILE BANKING — CASE STUDIES
The decision to impose taxes on mobile bank transactions will trigger so many problems.
Ghana — According to The Fourth Estate Ghana; Although the government projects a 24% decline in transactions when the levy is finally implemented, preliminary findings published by the bank of Ghana indicate the value of mobile money transactions had dropped by 3.2 billion in December 2021, less than 2 months after the proposal to introduce E-levy.
Uganda — An e-levy of 1% introduced in 2018 has led to an overall drop in the person-to-person transaction by more than 50%, and a 24% drop in industry transactions within the same year the tax was introduced according to a report by Global system for mobile communication (GSMA).
Congo — An e-levy of 1% was introduced in 2019. The government had to reverse the tax on cash outs only due to negative results of the levy on Mobile money users such as a decline in mobile money agents (unemployment) and high-value withdrawals by people.
Other countries include Benin (5%) and Cameroun (0.2%). In all these countries, the e-levy has imposed a negative effect on the economy and people. If we want to ensure the financial inclusion of people in rural areas, we need to ensure that we encourage mobile banking by withdrawing the e-levy tax.
Reference:
https://thefourthestategh.com/2022/03/16/e-levy-this-is-what-happened-when-other-african-countries-passed-it/
Purohit, S., & Arora, R. (2021). The benefits and challenges of mobile banking at the Bottom of the pyramid. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Business and Government Vol, 27(1).
Charles G. Kpan, Jr. is an Information Technologist with over 5 years of experience in the provision of Information Technology Services and an emphasis on Web Development and Visual Branding. He’s the managing Director of CYGEC IT SOLUTIONS INC. and holds a bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology from Blue Crest University, Liberia.