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Understanding Mental Models To Improve Your Life And Enhance The Lives Of Others

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Understanding Mental Models To Improve Your Life And Enhance The Lives Of Others

  • Make more intelligent decisions. 
  • Become a better communicator.
  • Become more instinctive and objective.
  • Think proactively, and react quicker.
  • Increase your self-awareness.

 

We have fitness gyms to improve our physical fitness. But what about a gym for our mental wellness? What would the mental equipment be?  Building your mental gym is essential and mental models are some of the most potent mental tools at your disposal. They may help you think and react quicker.  

We all have mental models, which are the lens through which we see the world that influences our reaction to everything we experience. It is crucial to be aware of your mental models to be objective. 

Mental models are significant and rooted in human nature, and they affect how we see problems and how we see people. Mental models may either be extremely helpful or destructive, depending on how you use them.

 


Source: brainyquote

What Are Mental Models? 

There are many different mental models, and it would take a very long time to study them all in detail. Some mental models are rooted in biological observations, while others have been described in behavioral studies. However, all mental models serve as beliefs or ideas that we form based on our experiences consciously or unconsciously.

Mental models help us understand life by providing a shortcut for reasoning. They guide our thoughts and behaviors and help us make sense of the world around us. By understanding how mental models work, we can improve our thinking and make better decisions.

Mental models are not a new concept; they are essential to understanding how our mind works. Below are 23 of the fundamental mental models that you can start observing in your daily life. They are helpful in understanding everyone’s thought process, and they will help you become a better communicator by considering other people’s mental models when speaking with them. Most importantly, they will help you become a more self-aware person.

 

23 Intrinsic Mental Models 

1. Anchoring
Anchoring is a mental model that refers to the tendency for people to rely too heavily on the first piece of information they receive (the “anchor”). This can lead to bad decision-making because people often fail to adjust their thinking when new information contradicts the original anchor.

2. Bandwagon Effect
The bandwagon effect is a mental model that refers to the tendency for people to do something simply because other people are doing it. This can lead to bad decision-making because people often fail to think for themselves and blindly follow the crowd.

3. Bayesian Reasoning
Bayesian reasoning is a mental model that refers to the process of updating your beliefs in light of new evidence. This is a good way of thinking because it allows you to constantly learn and update your beliefs based on further information.

4. Behavioral Sink
A behavioral sink is a mental model that refers to the tendency for bad behavior to spread in a population of animals or humans. 

This can happen when there is no punishment for bad behavior or when the rewards for bad behavior are more significant than rewards for good behavior. This can lead to disastrous consequences, such as the spread of disease, lowering of society's standard of living, or extinction of a species. A behavioral sink has been applied to many fields, including public health, marketing, and economics.

5. Classical Conditioning:
Pavlov's dog is an excellent example of classical conditioning. A biologically potent stimulus, such as food, is paired with a previously neutral stimulus, such as a bell, to condition response in animals. In this case, saliva is produced due to the neutral stimulus (the bell), just as it does when the biologically potent stimulus (food) is presented.

6. Commitment and Consistency Bias:
The desire to be and appear consistent with what we have already done. 

It prefers consistency over change, maintains current behavior, and avoids discontinuity. Confirmation bias is the tendency to favor information that confirms your existing beliefs, and Conformity bias tends to be more responsive to social pressure when evaluating a decision in the presence of others (e.g., a purchasing decision)

7. Common Knowledge:
It's a wide-accepted truth that everyone or nearly everyone knows. 

While common knowledge does not always signify fact or authenticity, most people will acknowledge it as such. In many cases, common knowledge can change. What was common knowledge in the past may not be common knowledge now. What was common knowledge in your country or society may not be common knowledge in another country or community.

8. Diversification:
The process of allocating your resources to reduce exposure to any particular risk and is essential when it comes to investing. By diversifying your portfolio, you reduce the risk that you might lose everything if one specific investment tanks. It’s also important to diversify when it comes to risk reduction in your life.

9. Game theory:
An umbrella term for the science of logical decision-making in humans, animals, and computers. 

Game theory is a branch of applied mathematics; it explores how we make decisions when faced with rules, rewards, and punishments. It is used in economics, political science, artificial intelligence, and many other fields. In its most common form, the game theory looks at strategic decision-making and its theory. When analyzing a game, we try to find the best strategy to win it. We look at what happens if everyone plays a certain way and what happens if they don’t.

10. Hyperbolic discounting:
A model states that, given two similar rewards, people prefer one that arrives sooner rather than later. 

This is often referred to as ‘discounting the value of each reward according to how soon it arrives.’ Hyperbolic discounting is often thought to be an innate aspect of human nature rather than something that can be changed. It is often applied to explain why people often fail to save enough money for retirement.

11. The illusion of control:
The tendency for people to overestimate their ability to control events. 

This illusion can lead to a false sense of security, a lack of preparedness, and a false sense of confidence in your ability to succeed. Researchers have found that this bias is common in people across cultures, backgrounds, and demographics. People with higher confidence levels seem to be more prone to the illusion of control. And though this bias can be quite beneficial, it can also lead to disastrous consequences.

12. Incentive:
Something that motivates or encourages someone to do something. 

Examples of incentives include financial rewards, prizes, gift cards, and bonuses. Incentives can also be non-financial, such as public recognition, an employee of the month, or a thank you card. Incentives are most often used in marketing to encourage current or potential customers to buy a product or service.

13. Inversion Principle:
The process of looking at a problem backward. For example, imagine everything that could make your project go wrong instead of brainstorming forward ideas. 

The principle can be applied to any situation where you want to develop new solutions to problems. Backward thinking helps you develop new ideas by challenging your current way of thinking. Inversion takes mental flexibility to apply to any situation in your life. 

14. Loss Aversion:
Loss aversion can be observed in various situations, from investment decisions to risk perceptions. People tend to place more value on avoiding losses than on achieving equivalent gains. E.g., Some people are more distressed about losing $10 than pleased to find $10.

15. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:
A hierarchy of human needs is often represented as a pyramid in which lower-level conditions must be satisfied before higher-level needs can be addressed. 

In this hierarchy, human needs are arranged in five categories: physiological needs, safety needs, needs for love and connection, need for esteem, and self-actualization at the top of the pyramid.

16. Mere-exposure Effect:
It is a psychological phenomenon by which people tend to prefer things merely because they are familiar with them. 

The mere-exposure effect is a bias where people are more likely to select items based on past experience rather than new information. This can lead to confirmation bias, where people seek out information that confirms their existing beliefs and avoid information that conflicts with them.

17. Norm of reciprocity:
It's the expectation that we repay what another has done for us in kind. 

It is a deeply ingrained social norm that is believed to promote a positive cycle of behavior rather than a negative spiral of consequences. This norm inspires us to do good deeds for others, and when we receive a favor, we feel the obligation to pay it forward. When you have been on the receiving end of a good deed, you now have the responsibility to go out and do something nice for someone else.

18. Operant conditioning:
A learning process where the strength of a behavior is modified by reinforcing or punishing it.

Operant conditioning can be used to modify any kind of behavior and is often used to treat problems like ADHD, but it's also used to help people wanting to improve their performance. Operant conditioning often relies on a system of rewards, like a token economy, to reinforce desired behavior. There are many different types of operant conditioning, but they all rely on classical and operant conditioning principles.

19. Scarcity:
An item in limited supply and thus in demand in the market. Also, artificial scarcity is created when the government restricts the amount of a commodity that may be bought. 

People often react to scarcity by stockpiling goods and spending more money. This can be a response to anything from the uncertainty of a political climate to a natural disaster.  In the face of scarcity, people often turn to each other for support, building communities and trust. Scarcity can also lead to conflict, as people fight over resources.

20. Status Quo Bias:
A status quo bias is a preference for the current state of affairs, where the current baseline is taken as a reference point, and any change from that baseline is perceived as a loss. 

Status quo bias can also be understood as a preference for the “devil you know over the devil you don’t know” or inertia. Status quo bias is a common human bias often observed in decision-making. It can be beneficial in certain contexts, such as deciding whether to stay in or move out of a particular investment. However, it can also be very costly.

21. Surfing:
The business principle of “riding the wave” of new technology, a product, or a trend. 

When a new technology, product, or trend has the potential to impact your business significantly, you can ride the wave by exploring how it can be integrated into your existing offerings. Stay ahead of the curve by keeping an eye on cutting-edge technology and monitoring changes in the marketplace. You might discover that new technology has the potential to be adopted by your existing customers or to attract new ones.

22. Survivorship bias:
The logical error of concentrating on the people that made it past some selection process and overlooking those that did not, typically because of their lack of visibility. 

This frequently occurs in entrepreneurship. For example, if you profile successful entrepreneurs, you are unlikely to consider those who tried and failed. Examining the lives of successful entrepreneurs teaches us very little. We would do far better to analyze the causes of failure, then act accordingly. Even better would be learning from both failures and successes.

23. Tribalism:
A way of thinking in which people are loyal to their social group above all else. 

Tribalism is the opposite of individualism; it’s the idea that social status is more important than what you achieve. It’s the idea that your group — your family, friends, and co-workers — is more important than any other group.

 

How To Use Mental Models 

Mental models should not be mechanically applied to enhance your cognitive performance. There is a common misconception that mental models should be rigorously studied and employed. There are several mental models that you should do your best to avoid. For instance, an “illusion of control” can be particularly dangerous in certain situations, and it's good to understand them, so you are aware of the pitfalls.

It is crucial to be able to recognize mental models to grow as a human being, whether you are using them or communicating with someone who is. Ideally, you should decide whether or not to employ them rather than being swept away by our brain's habitual thinking.

 


Source: AZ Quotes

 

How can you master mental models, identify them in others, and beneficially use them? 

Here are a few strategies you may use to master mental models rather than being dominated by them.

● When thinking, ask yourself challenging questions.
● Challenge your thinking with actual facts by gathering information
● Ask others about their thoughts and challenge their opinions.
● Avoid jumping to conclusions and suspend your assumptions. 
● Be on the lookout for habitual thought patterns, and disempower them.

Being aware of your mental models is critical, as a tool is only as good as its user. Once you know your mental models, you can use them effectively to achieve your goals.

 

How To Build Your Mental Models

In a fast-moving environment, mental models can be instrumental in helping you think fast and make decisions. After all, they’re great at giving you a rule of thumb to predict likely outcomes or behaviors if done well. However, to really benefit from mental models, you need to build them actively and put them into practice.

The best way to do this is to constantly challenge your assumptions, actively seek out new information, and work towards testing your mental models through active experimentation. Doing this will help you continuously improve your mental models and make them more accurate, reliable tools for critical thinking.

Begin developing your own mental models by finding inspiration in people. When you read a biography, ask yourself: why did they make this decision? What was the reasoning? What mental model did they employ?

It's not always about famous entrepreneurs or creatives. We all have a friend or colleague whose work we admire. When you see them make a particular choice in a difficult situation, ask them how they arrived at that decision.

Ask for feedback from a friend or colleague to see if you exhibit any undesirable behaviors. It may be difficult and perplexing to self-observe, but it can be incredibly beneficial and enlightening.

It's essential to be aware of undesirable mental models and recognize the positive ones. Instinctively, you'll notice mental models you don't want to replicate. Studying them is also worthwhile because it is easier to avoid a mental pattern when you know how to spot it in yourself and others. Write down your mental models, whether they are constructive or destructive.

To delve deeper and learn more about mental models, visit Farnam Street. 

 

References: 
Farnam Street 
Anne-Laure Le Cunff 

 

Also published @ BeforeIt’sNews.com: https://beforeitsnews.com/education/2022/05/understanding-mental-models-to-improve-your-life-and-enhance-the-lives-of-others-2461449.html 

 

Tim Moseley

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Historic Gerrymander Win Could Set National Precedent

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Historic Gerrymander Win Could Set National Precedent

by Micah Morrison, chief investigative reporter, Judicial Watch

 

Historic Gerrymander Win Could Set National Precedent

 

The Judge Was Not Pulling Any Punches

Siding with Judicial Watch in a challenge to a congressional redistricting plan cooked up by Democrats dominating the Maryland state legislature, Judge Lynne Battaglia—herself a Democrat—threw haymakers. The Democrat redistricting map was an “extreme partisan gerrymander.” Democrats had attempted to “suppress the voice of Republican voters.” It was drawn up with “partisanship as predominant intent.” It violated state constitutional provisions on equal protection and free speech. It subordinated “constitutional criteria to political consideration.”

Making history—for the first time, a Maryland court ruled that a congressional redistricting plan violated the state constitution—Judge Battaglia banned the use of the gerrymander map and ordered the Maryland General Assembly back to the drawing board.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton hailed the decision. “This key court victory against abusive partisan gerrymandering by Democrats in Maryland could set a national precedent,” he said. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan called it “a historic milestone.”

 

 

Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit on behalf of twelve Maryland voters who objected to the state legislature’s plan and was joined at trial by a second set of plaintiffs. The argument? The gerrymandered maps diminished their right to participate in a free and fair election on an equal basis with other Maryland voters. The court agreed.

The March ruling has begun to echo through the national debate. In New York, in April, the state’s highest court rejected a new redistricting map favored by Democrats dominating state politics. The court ruled that the map violated a state prohibition on partisan gerrymandering, saying it was created with “impermissible partisan purpose.” Court observers say the Maryland case was discussed in briefings and oral arguments in New York.

In 2019, the Supreme Court rejected political gerrymandering claims brought solely under the federal Constitution. Since then, the battle over redistricting has spread to state courts throughout the country. According to experts surveyed by Judicial Watch, cases related to gerrymandering and redistricting are underway in nineteen states. Among the states are the electoral powerhouses Texas, Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio. You can read about some of the upcoming cases here.

Tough anti-gerrymandering measures are one way to start cleaning up dirty election practices, says Robert Popper, Judicial Watch’s director of voting integrity efforts. Gerrymandering is a “method of cheating [that] has been around for 200 years,” Popper told journalist Tim Pool. “If you’re a state that doesn’t have an anti-gerrymandering provision, then suddenly it’s a political issue. Why don’t you? You want districts that are ugly and screwed up for partisan advantage, you want to cheat opponents in state elections.”

In Maryland, the state legislature quickly capitulated in the face of the court ruling and signed on to a new, fairer redistricting map. In New York, redistricting has been turned over to a special master. But Popper warns of trouble in states where political gerrymandering survives, with partisan operatives possibly turning to “new, computer-generated maps” that could become “so convoluted that’s it’s effectively like you don’t have a district at all.” We’re not there yet, says Popper. “But if we don’t deal with gerrymandering, my prediction is, that’s coming.”

 

New Opportunities Are Emerging For Citizens of The World.

Freedom and democracy may appear to be struggling to stay alive in America, but there may be a knock-out punch ready to be released. The evolution of the blockchain-enabled metaverse is going to enable the 'Citizens of the World' to gain their own Freedom by democratizing power and creating a new world with new rules, new players, and new opportunities. For 99.99% of us, the metaverse will improve our real-world lives through the democratization of power and opportunity.

Along with the major long-term trend of society towards decentralization and smaller-scale organizations, there are new opportunities developing to help 'Preparers' in the cryptocurrency sector. Businesses are beginning to issue their own Crypto Coins that can be traded on Cryptocoin Exchanges.

Markethive.com for example will be releasing its HiveCoin (HIV) in the coming weeks. It has tremendous upside potential that is outlined in a Video by Founder Tom Prendergast, "Entrepreneur Advantage…".

Not only that, if you go to their website and register as a FREE Member, you will be given 500 HiveCoins for "FREE" along with access to several Earning Opportunities and online tools to increase your HiveCoin balance.

Be sure to check it out today – Markethive.com

Markethive

Tim Moseley

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The James Webb Space Telescope is almost fully calibrated

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The James Webb Space Telescope is almost fully calibrated…

by Jeff Brown, editor, The Bleeding Edge

 

The James Webb Space Telescope is almost fully calibrated…

The James Webb Space Telescope

 

Today Another Stunning Update…

We have been tracking the deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) closely this year. The JWST is the most complex telescope ever constructed. What’s more, it was launched to a destination about one million miles from Earth back in February.

We call its destination the LaGrange Point 2 (L2). It’s on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun. That makes it incredibly cold, which is great for the telescope’s performance. JWST is currently going through the calibration process. We expect the first fully calibrated images to come back as early as July.

That said, JWST has sent a few images back already. They aren’t as advanced as what we will get once the telescope is fully calibrated. But they are still incredible. We can see just how powerful JWST is by comparing a recent image from the JWST of the same spot in a galaxy to images from older infrared telescopes…

 

The Same Image from Different Telescopes

The Same Image from Different Telescopes

Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech

As we can see, these images are of the same objects. We can see the string of four objects from the lower left to the upper right of the image. The only difference is that different telescopes took them over the last two decades. We are looking at images of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). It’s a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. And get this – LMC is about 160,000 light-years away from Earth.

The image on the left is from the WISE telescope back in 2003. The one in the middle is from Spitzer in 2008. And on the right is an image just sent back by the JWST. We can see just how advanced the JWST is when compared to previous telescopes. The difference in resolution is dramatic. JWST’s images are only going to get clearer with even higher resolution. 

 

Here’s the most exciting part…

NASA hasn’t yet told us what the JWST’s first scientific target will be. It has been very secretive about what the telescope will focus on first. So we can look forward to more information from NASA within the next month or two. It will be very exciting to see the next images that the telescope reveals…

 

New Opportunities Are Emerging For Citizens of The World.

Freedom and democracy may appear to be struggling to stay alive in America, but there may be a knock-out punch ready to be released. The evolution of the blockchain-enabled metaverse is going to enable the 'Citizens of the World' to gain their own Freedom by democratizing power and creating a new world with new rules, new players, and new opportunities. For 99.99% of us, the metaverse will improve our real-world lives through the democratization of power and opportunity.

Along with the major long-term trend of society towards decentralization and smaller-scale organizations, there are new opportunities developing to help 'Preparers' in the cryptocurrency sector. Businesses are beginning to issue their own Crypto Coins that can be traded on Cryptocoin Exchanges.

Markethive.com for example will be releasing its HiveCoin (HIV) in the coming weeks. It has tremendous upside potential that is outlined in a Video by Founder Tom Prendergast, "Entrepreneur Advantage…".

Not only that, if you go to their website and register as a FREE Member, you will be given 500 HiveCoins for "FREE" along with access to several Earning Opportunities and online tools to increase your HiveCoin balance.

Be sure to check it out today – Markethive.com

Markethive

Tim Moseley

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New MASSIVE Crypto Gains

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New MASSIVE Crypto Gains

By Jeff Brown, Editor, The Bleeding Edge

 

New Massive Crypto Gains

 

This Is Blockchain’s Next Megatrend

While the pandemic forced many of us to remain at home, we suddenly found ourselves with more time on our hands. And for many of us, that meant more time spent playing games on our phones and consoles. After all, gaming was an easy outlet to escape the insanity of what was happening. So it’s no surprise then that gaming has remained a winning sector over the last few years. And 2021 turned out to be a record year for the entire gaming industry…

Popular mobile games like Roblox, Pokémon GO, and Candy Crush Saga brought in billions of dollars from a captive audience willing to spend more time in front of their screens.

 

 

And we also saw the release of the newest generation of bleeding-edge consoles with the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X. As it stands, Sony has already shipped over 17 million consoles, with Microsoft’s system in a distant second place.

Overall, video game sales for the year hit a peak of $60.4 billion – an 8% increase over 2020’s sales. Among the top sellers were such popular series as Call of Duty, installments of the aforementioned Pokémon series, and many more. These sales figures represent the acceleration of a global industry worth well over $138 billion. And historically, this lucrative industry has made millions and even billions for a select group of game developers. We as players obviously don’t get to share in the revenues that we’re helping to generate.

The idea of users being able to financially benefit from the games they play has never truly been possible before. Aside from micro-economies in early massive multiplayer games like Second Life and World of Warcraft, players have typically been locked out of this opportunity. We give game developers our money in the form of individual game purchases, in-game transactions, and other lucrative revenue streams. And for that, we get nothing in return. 

But what if game developers allowed users to collect financial rewards for their support? Well, a key technology is enabling this shift today… And it’s poised to disrupt the traditional relationship between game developers and users. What’s more, early investors now have the chance to build their stake in gaming’s next megatrend…

 

 

 

The GameFi Revolution Is Here

Over the last several months, an investment trend with the potential to disrupt the entire video game industry as we know it has been emerging. It’s a trend referred to as GameFi – a mashup of the words gaming and finance. The trend is made possible by combining non-fungible tokens (NFTs), cryptos, and gaming. As a reminder, NFTs are digital collectibles. They allow us to cryptographically secure and authenticate unique assets or data on a blockchain. And these tokens are not just static pieces of art. They can be far more interactive and have unique attributes other than just their looks.

With GameFi, developers can build games that leverage NFTs and other digital assets to create a whole range of economic incentives for users. Right now, we’re seeing the birth of a play-to-earn (p2e) model that benefits both users and developers. The funds that deploy capital in crypto are building their war chests to increase their investments in p2e games. 

Hong Kong-based game developer Animoca Brands is involved in over 150 NFT and GameFi projects. And it just raised $358 million last month to be deployed to p2e gaming projects. And a blockchain gaming platform called Forte recently raised $725 million in its latest funding round. It’s now a multibillion-dollar gaming company growing its valuation at breakneck speed.

These represent just some of the major investments flooding into the space today. They’re fueling the exponential growth in GameFi projects all over the world.And all of this investment is powering a wave of exciting new applications sparking the mass adoption of GameFi…

 

These Projects Are Bringing GameFi to the Masses

Consider the blockchain-based game Axie Infinity. It’s a lot like the original Pokémon. Players control different creatures – each with different attributes – and they battle each other. The outcome of any battle depends heavily on the attributes of each NFT and how each one is used.

What makes Axie Infinity unique is that the creatures and the objects in the game are NFTs that must be purchased with the game’s native cryptocurrency. It’s called the Axie Infinity Shard (AXS). And Axie Infinity has a series of economic incentives built right into the game. Players earn AXS tokens as they win battles and accomplish tasks in the game.

 

Axie Infinity

Source: Niko Partners

 

AXS itself can be converted into Ethereum (ETH), and ETH can then be converted into U.S. dollars. In this way, AXS earnings can be turned into a useful income stream for any user. Players have bought more than $1 billion worth of Axie Infinity NFTs over the last year. That’s remarkable. And it shows how hot the GameFi trend is becoming.

Simply put, the more players play, the more they earn… and the more valuable their cryptocurrency and NFTs become. This is a classic network effect. And it has built multibillion-dollar tech companies over the last two decades.

There are many more examples of games like Axie Infinity leveraging p2e dynamics that we can consider. A recent Solana-based move-to-earn project called STEPN crosses the bridge between the digital and physical world. This game literally pays us to move. Users download the STEPN application, which also acts as a crypto wallet. We can then purchase an NFT sneaker, or even rent a sneaker if the price is too expensive.

 

The STEPN App

Source: STEPN

 

Those who have an NFT sneaker can literally get paid to walk, jog, or run each day in STEPN’s native cryptocurrency – GST. It’s not just pocket change either. It’s possible to easily earn $20–30 just by walking or running for 10 minutes a day. And for those who are more committed and willing to be active for 60 minutes a day, you can earn hundreds more simply by playing.

We can also consider the p2e game Game of Silks. This game is pioneering a kind of NFT called a “Digi-fizzy.” These are essentially NFTs that are linked to a real-world asset – for example, a pair of digital sneakers that enables users to receive a physical shoe. The project is creating NFTs that in part represent the actual traits, characteristics, and real-world performance of real racehorses.

Game of Silks tracks each horse’s training progress and racing results. Owners are then rewarded with the game’s native cryptocurrency when their horse does well in real races. The project also tracks each horse as it gets old enough to breed. When a horse produces offspring in real life, Game of Silks mints a new NFT for that horse. It’s a different twist on “breeding” with NFTs. And it rewards those who own the parents’ NFTs accordingly.

These are just a small segment of the projects leveraging the power of NFTs, smart contracts, and other assets on the blockchain. Now, I mention these projects because they represent some of the most novel deployments of the GameFi trend happening right now… And in the coming years, we’ll see more projects like these emerge. The reason GameFi is surfacing now is because of major innovations happening in blockchain tech. We’re seeing the proliferation of projects dedicated to improving the infrastructure behind blockchain technology emerge week after week… And the projects enabling these innovations are forming the next major investment opportunity for us right now.

 

New Opportunities Are Emerging For Citizens of The World.

Freedom and democracy may appear to be struggling to stay alive in America, but there may be a knock-out punch ready to be released. The evolution of the blockchain-enabled metaverse is going to enable the 'Citizens of the World' to gain their own Freedom by democratizing power and creating a new world with new rules, new players, and new opportunities. For 99.99% of us, the metaverse will improve our real-world lives through the democratization of power and opportunity.

Along with the major long-term trend of society towards decentralization and smaller-scale organizations, there are new opportunities developing to help 'Preparers' in the cryptocurrency sector. Businesses are beginning to issue their own Crypto Coins that can be traded on Cryptocoin Exchanges.

Markethive.com for example will be releasing its HiveCoin (HIV) in the coming weeks. It has tremendous upside potential that is outlined in a Video by Founder Tom Prendergast, "Entrepreneur Advantage…".

Not only that, if you go to their website and register as a FREE Member, you will be given 500 HiveCoins for "FREE" along with access to several Earning Opportunities and online tools to increase your HiveCoin balance.

Be sure to check it out today – Markethive.com

Markethive

Tim Moseley

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Janet Yellen: It’s Better To Be Dead Than Poor

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Janet Yellen: It's Better To Be Dead Than Poor

by Dana Loesch, publisher, Chapter & Verse

 

Janet Yellen: It's Better To Be Dead Than Poor

 

The Harsh Sexism of Zero Expectations Within The Pro-Choice Movement

One of the biggest lies the left has ever told women is that we aren’t strong enough to raise the life we co-create. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen repeated this very lie today while testifying before the Senate Banking Committee:

Twitter avatar for @CBSNewsCBS News @CBSNews

U.S. Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen testified to the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday that research has shown denying women access to abortions increases their odds of living in poverty or on public assistance – an impact that will have "very damaging effects on the economy."

Image

May 10th 2022

According To Yellen, It’s Better To Be Dead Than Poor

Yellen’s perspective is nothing more than heinous class warfare. She promotes an ideology that claims you cannot escape the status into which you were born unless the government elevates you.

It’s an anti-American and anti-woman ideology that conveniently absolves the progressive patriarchy of any and all responsibility while reframing the co-creation of human life as a “women’s rights” issue. It’s a brilliant, Machiavellian scheme that lures millions of women into advocating against their own interests under the guise of some “right” that progressive men use as a prop when asked to take responsibility for the life they co-created.

 

 

“Well, It’s A Woman’s Right”

Now that third-wave feminists insist that men can also have babies, that protective hedge is gone.

I grew up poor in a run-down house in Hematite, Missouri. I was raised by a single mom until I was a teenager and my step-dad entered the picture. During my elementary school years, I occasionally had to borrow notebook paper from a cousin because we couldn’t afford it. For days we lived on milk gravy and biscuits because my mom couldn’t afford anything else. A McDonald’s Happy Meal was a real treat. I didn’t know the unhappiness of poverty because that was never presented to me as a factor worthy to determine my happiness or influence my perspective of others. All I knew as a child is that I was living, and I loved life.

It wasn’t easy for my mom. It’s not easy for a lot of moms. Life isn’t a guarantee of easy. Lack of ease doesn’t mean presence of discrimination, either. Sometimes the worst discrimination comes from the adults in your life that are supposed to love you and care for you.

Democrats used to mock what they claimed was Republicans’ buttoned-up prudishness for the latter’s views on sexual responsibility (yet it was Democrats, not Republicans, who blocked over-the-counter birth control) — but it’s Democrats who refuse any talk of responsibility today.

They call discussion of responsibility “shaming” as a way to emotionally blackmail the populace from discussing the scientific cause and effect of sex. It’s not teenagers in backseats getting abortions, it’s older women who are already mothers, who know how babies are made, and who view abortion as a form of birth control.

Twitter avatar for @ylanmuiYlan Q. Mui @ylanmui

WOW: @SecYellen weighs in on the abortion debate — with an economic angle: "Eliminating the right of women to make decisions about when and whether to have children would have very damaging effects on the economy and would set women back decades."

May 10th 2022

 

When did anyone eliminate the right of women to determine who they want to sleep with and when? It sets women back decades to keep them in the dark about how babies are made. Pregnancy isn’t something done to them — rape and incest account for less than 1% of abortions according to Planned Parenthood’s own figures — it’s something women choose for themselves by inviting consensual, recreational sex. Heaven forbid someone tells a woman to get birth control. Prescription birth control is covered by insurance for issues such as endometriosis and is as cheap as $10 per pack at places like Target. It’s odd to hear objections about expense from people who think $10 per pill pack is expensive but a $700+ abortion isn’t (the priceless value of the life not included).

Abortion isn’t health care. Pregnancy is not a malady. Doctors don’t prescribe dissolving infants’ bodies or dismembering their tiny limbs as ways to cure a common cold. It’s an insulting claim.

Pretending that pregnancy is forced upon women is ironically infantilizing. The left argues that women are too weak or dumb to assume the risks of their own willful actions or manage the consequences of those actions. I disagree. It’s theft of female agency to argue that women are forced to carry babies when they willingly engaged in the act of procreation. It’s the very heart and soul of “empowerment,” yet this is where the left’s farcical “girl power” theater ends.

 

The Choice Is Before Conception

I loved Senator Tim Scott’s rebuke of Yellen’s logic:

Twitter avatar for @LifeNewsHQLifeNews.com @LifeNewsHQ

Senator Tim Scott rebukes Janet Yellen for claiming poor black women need abortions: “I’ll just simply say that as a guy raised by a black woman in abject poverty, I am thankful to be here as a United States senator.”

Image

May 10th 2022

 

One of the worst insults to any woman is the lowered expectations for her capacity to be a mother. True empowerment rejects this.

 

New Opportunities Are Emerging For Citizens of The World.

Freedom and democracy may appear to be struggling to stay alive in America, but there may be a knock-out punch ready to be released. The evolution of the blockchain-enabled metaverse is going to enable the 'Citizens of the World' to gain their own Freedom by democratizing power and creating a new world with new rules, new players, and new opportunities. For 99.99% of us, the metaverse will improve our real-world lives through the democratization of power and opportunity.

Along with the major long-term trend of society towards decentralization and smaller-scale organizations, there are new opportunities developing to help 'Preparers' in the cryptocurrency sector. Businesses are beginning to issue their own Crypto Coins that can be traded on Cryptocoin Exchanges.

Markethive.com for example will be releasing its HiveCoin (HIV) in the coming weeks. It has tremendous upside potential that is outlined in a Video by Founder Tom Prendergast, "Entrepreneur Advantage…".

Not only that, if you go to their website and register as a FREE Member, you will be given 500 HiveCoins for "FREE" along with access to several Earning Opportunities and online tools to increase your HiveCoin balance.

Be sure to check it out today – Markethive.com

Markethive

Tim Moseley

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National Self-Perception

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National Self-Perception

by Jeff Thomas, International Man Communique

 

National Self-Perception

 

"This above all: to thine own self be true."

Bill Shakespeare had a talent for phrasing basic truths well, and this quote is no exception. (Even if you lie to others, don’t lie to yourself, or you’re in real trouble.)

Much has been said about the American self-image, going back to its inception as an upstart nation that imagined it could succeed as a republic, as Athens had failed to do. And, indeed, the US encountered the same basic problem as Athens: having once created a republic – a nation in which the rights of the individual are foremost. Maintaining that condition is not only a constant battle but extremely unlikely over time.

As a form of governance, a republic serves its people well; however, since it doesn’t provide its leaders with much in the way of aggrandizement or profit, its leaders are likely to do all they can to degrade the republic into a democracy. Once having accomplished that, they’re likely to do all they can to degrade it to tyranny.

As Thomas Jefferson said, "History hath shewn that, even under the best forms, those entrusted with power have, in time and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny." He anticipated that, given enough time, the nascent United States would devolve into a tyrannical oligarchy. It has now had that time and has become a tyrannical oligarchy.

It must be said that the US still displays the accouterments of a proud republic, but, at this point, it’s for show only. The inner workings of the US are not that of a republic, nor even a democracy. The US is a quasi-capitalist/quasi-socialist amalgam that’s run by a corporatist oligarchy. Whilst it still has an elected president and congress, those individuals are, at this point, cardboard cutouts who are only allowed to pursue their personal pet projects if they fit in with the unelected Deep State that’s truly in charge.

It’s important to mention that the challenge to the republic began in George Washington’s first cabinet, through regular squabbling between the three cabinet members. But, although the deterioration continued for another hundred years, the US did not abandon its principle to stay out of world affairs for its first hundred years. That occurred by 1900, under the voracious nationalist appetite of one Teddy Roosevelt. The US government began its foray into the empire and never looked back.

Through two world wars, the US wisely held back as European nations beat each other to pieces. Instead, they supplied the combatants with armaments and charged them in gold. In each war, by the time the US jumped in to win the day, their troops were fresh, their armaments were substantial and much of the wealth of Europe had been transferred to them, assuring that they’d prevail at the end of the war. Consequently, they ended the war as the richest nation on earth, whilst the other nations lay in ruins, both physically and economically.

 

 

And So Began The Next Era

One in which Americans saw themselves as the "winners" of the wars, as well as the king of the mountain. By 1958, Eugene Burdick and William Lederer had written their novel, "the Ugly American," which accurately presented American diplomats as presumptuous and arrogant. Although Messrs. Burdick and Lederer were both American, they were highly objective and made the effort to see the US and its government as outsiders saw them.

Since that time, the US government has, if anything, expanded upon its presumption and arrogance, declaring in no uncertain terms that it regards itself as the world’s policeman and will enforce its power wherever it sees fit, globally.

In recent decades, it’s demonstrated that conviction, by invading numerous far-flung nations, often for flimsy reasons and, indeed, sometimes for reasons that later proved erroneous. Tellingly, even when the US has been caught destroying a country for a trumped-up reason, the US offered no apology but continued its aggression.

Americans themselves appear to be of mixed opinion on this behavior. Some Americans recognize the presumptuous and arrogant manner of their leaders and decry such behavior and even fear where it may ultimately lead the US. Yet, others parrot their government’s position that a bit of milk may need to be spilled if the US is to "make the world safe for democracy." (They often proudly take this stance, even though invading a country halfway around the world, destroying its cities, killing its people and destroying its economy, only to install a puppet government, can hardly be called democracy.)

 

How Does The World Outside The US See The US?

Well, many assume all Americans resemble their leaders – dangerous sociopaths, who represent a threat to the rest of the world. Others are more objective and recognize that the American people and the American leadership are not one and the same. This latter group tends to have greater sympathy for Americans themselves, whilst remaining guarded about their leaders.

However, generally speaking, the world at large observes US national behavior and sees the US as a whole as a potential (if not current) threat. Americans who might nod their heads at this statement are likely to think in terms of the Middle Eastern and Asian countries and they would be correct. However, it goes further than this.

As the "world’s policeman," the US government frequently decides to punish nations that fail to kowtow to it by applying economic sanctions. The US then advises its allies that they will be expected to do the same. It is at this point that those who had thought themselves allies of the US say, "Hang on, it may not cost you anything to apply these sanctions, but it costs us a great deal."

As Thomas Jefferson said, "History hath shewn that, even under the best forms, those entrusted with power have, in time and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny." For example, when the US applied sanctions to Russia, then required those sanctions to be supported by countries in the EU, and some in Europe said, "But we get most of our gas from Russia. If we support US sanctions, they may understandably cut off our gas. Unless the US can replace that gas, our people will freeze this winter." Further, the US government is becoming increasingly pointed in its threats of warfare to those perceived adversaries that they’ve not yet invaded – a development that’s increased the nail-biting by both the governments and peoples of US allies.

 

So, What Are We To Make Of All This?

Well, such developments are nothing new historically. Throughout the ages, whenever an empire has become like the pawn in the photo above and has come to see itself like a king, arrogance and presumption have tended to have become the rule. As tensions build, old allies attempt to hold their positions, but, when the volcano eventually does blow, they tend to head for the hills. It’s for this reason that, if and when an empire makes the fatal mistake of seeing itself as omnipotent, it learns (the hard way) that, first, it’s not as strong as it presumes and, second, that its allies were not prepared to be sacrificed for the sake of the self-proclaimed king.

It’s for this reason that "Countries fall from grace with amazing speed." This can also be said for empires, and the US presently displays all the behavior of an empire that’s teetering on the brink of its own fall from grace. Economically, politically, and socially, the United States seems to be headed down a path that’s not only inconsistent with the founding principles of the country but accelerating quickly toward boundless decay.

In the years ahead, there will likely be much less stability of any kind.

 

New Opportunities Are Emerging For Citizens of The World.

Freedom and democracy may appear to be struggling to stay alive in America, but there may be a knock-out punch ready to be released. The evolution of the blockchain-enabled metaverse is going to enable the 'Citizens of the World' to gain their own Freedom by democratizing power and creating a new world with new rules, new players, and new opportunities. For 99.99% of us, the metaverse will improve our real-world lives through the democratization of power and opportunity.

Along with the major long-term trend of society towards decentralization and smaller-scale organizations, there are new opportunities developing to help 'Preparers' in the cryptocurrency sector. Businesses are beginning to issue their own Crypto Coins that can be traded on Cryptocoin Exchanges.

Markethive.com for example will be releasing its HiveCoin (HIV) in the coming weeks. It has tremendous upside potential that is outlined in a Video by Founder Tom Prendergast, "Entrepreneur Advantage…".

Not only that, if you go to their website and register as a FREE Member, you will be given 500 HiveCoins for "FREE" along with access to several Earning Opportunities and online tools to increase your HiveCoin balance.

Be sure to check it out today – Markethive.com

Markethive

Tim Moseley

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The Worst Decision Investors Could Make Right Now

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The Worst Decision Investors Could Make Right Now

by Jason Bodner, editor, Outlier Investor

 

The Worst Decision Investors Could Make Right Now

 

 

Right Now, Investors Are Scared

Inflation is going through the roof, and the Fed just approved a 50 basis-point rate hike at this week’s meeting. Stocks have taken a beating. Russia and Ukraine are still at war. And some people are even beginning to mutter the word recession.

As a result, some readers may be thinking about selling stocks, cashing out, and stuffing money under the mattress. And I get it. I really do. We live in uncertain times, and the media endlessly pushing panic on us doesn’t help.

But don’t go shoving your money into holes in the backyard or even just sticking it in the bank just yet. Because that’s the worst mistake investors can make right now. Let me explain why…

 

The Worst Mistake

My name is Jason Bodner. I’m the editor of Outlier Investor. I spent over 14 years on Wall Street and another four years in “The City” – London’s Wall Street. And since that time, I’ve started two hedge funds and created a proprietary stock-picking system to track the markets.

That’s given me an inside view of the way the financial system works… and shown me how to identify opportunities most people can’t see. And now I like to use my experience to help everyday investors. That’s the purpose behind today’s topic… because I can see the trap waiting for investors right now.

Despite the temptation to “play it safe” amid the current uncertainty, the worst mistake that you could make right now is to leave your money sitting as all, or even mostly, cash. As of writing, the best “high-yield” savings rate I can find is 0.75%. More often, they’re still sitting at 0.5%. Yet if we have $100,000 invested at even a 0.75% rate… over the course of a decade, we’ll only earn a paltry $7,758 on our cash. (Of course, stuffing your money under the mattress won’t make you a penny in that time frame.)

The truth is, if your money isn’t invested, then it’s guaranteed not to grow – especially with inflation hitting 8.5% as of the last Consumer Price Index (CPI) report. Inflation is the ultimate killer. Without investing, inflation will erode your cash and its buying power.

 

 

Consider This…

If inflation stays where it was just last month, then in five years, our buying power would decrease by over 40%. A nearly $10 gallon of gas could become the new normal. Now, I’m not saying that’s going to happen. But with the current trend, inflation is here for the foreseeable future. The Fed can’t raise interest rates to fight inflation too much or too quickly without shooting itself in the foot. The national debt levels are simply too extreme for it to do so. As a result, we need to acknowledge inflation as a deadly threat to our money. So if cash isn’t a good option… what should we be doing with our money right now?

 

What Should We Be Doing?

Here are a few tips for folks looking to protect and grow their money in the current environment. (Keep in mind – This is money that’s not being used for daily needs or saved up for a new car or vacation. This is the money intended for retirement or other long-term plans.)

First, if you’re working for a company that offers it, max out your 401k – especially if you have an employer contribution match. That’s when employers will match the money you deposit into your account up to a certain percentage. For example, if you contribute 6% to your 401k, your employer might match up to 3%. In that case, it’s basically free money, and you can start pulling from this account at the age of 59½.

Another great way to plan for the future is by putting money in a Roth IRA. These are the “pre-taxed” accounts that you may have heard about before. You pay taxes on the front end when you put your money into the account. But when you pull your money out in retirement – after it’s grown multitudes from your investments – you can do so tax-free. In 2022, the annual Roth IRA contribution limit is either $6,000 if you are under 50 or $7,000 if you are 50 or older.

Over the last 100 years, stocks have gone up 10% per year on average. In some years, the market goes up less. In others, it’s more. But it all averages out to 10% growth per year. If we invest just $5,000 per year from the time we’re 25 until age 65, then we could amass over $2.4 million – and not have to pay taxes on a single cent of our gain if it was held in a Roth.

That’s the power of reinvesting and compounding that growth over time. And like 401ks, investors can also start pulling from their Roth account without penalty at the age of 59½. So if you’re not yet using these two investment vehicles, I recommend getting started now.

The power of investing is an incredible thing… and you’re guaranteed to lose out to inflation if you’re not taking advantage of it. And whether it’s in a 401k or a Roth IRA, investing in dividend stocks of businesses poised to benefit from inflation will trump anything else over the long run.

 

New Opportunities Are Emerging For Citizens of The World.

Freedom and democracy may appear to be struggling to stay alive in America, but there may be a knock-out punch ready to be released. The evolution of the blockchain-enabled metaverse is going to enable the 'Citizens of the World' to gain their own Freedom by democratizing power and creating a new world with new rules, new players, and new opportunities. For 99.99% of us, the metaverse will improve our real-world lives through the democratization of power and opportunity.

Along with the major long-term trend of society towards decentralization and smaller-scale organizations, there are new opportunities developing to help 'Preparers' in the cryptocurrency sector. Businesses are beginning to issue their own Crypto Coins that can be traded on Cryptocoin Exchanges.

Markethive.com for example will be releasing its HiveCoin (HIV) in the coming weeks. It has tremendous upside potential that is outlined in a Video by Founder Tom Prendergast, "Entrepreneur Advantage…".

Not only that, if you go to their website and register as a FREE Member, you will be given 500 HiveCoins for "FREE" along with access to several Earning Opportunities and online tools to increase your HiveCoin balance.

Be sure to check it out today – Markethive.com

Markethive

Tim Moseley

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HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR EMAIL MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

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HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR EMAIL MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

 

Since the dawn of social media marketing, it’s been purported that email marketing will cease to be of any value as a marketing strategy. On the contrary, email continues to be one of the most popular digital channels that marketers can use to communicate with customers and subscribers, bringing in significant ROI for businesses worldwide. 

According to Statista, daily email users will climb to 4.6 billion by 2025. Despite the growth and prominence of mobile messengers and chat apps, e-mail is an integral part of everyday online life. Email is a great way to connect with busy clients on the move, eating breakfast, commuting, at work, in bed, or just about anywhere with billions of users per day.

Furthermore, the number of emails sent and received globally has increased since 2017. While roughly 319.6 billion emails were estimated to have been sent and received each day in 2021, this figure is expected to increase to over 376.4 billion daily emails by 2025.

Email Marketing

Email marketing has managed to defy its predicted demise and remain central to digital communication, and continues to grow in acceptance. Notably, email has seen higher click-through rates than social media regarding online advertising.

Past studies and marketing statistics have found that 4.24% of visitors from email marketing will make a purchase compared to only 2.49% of visitors from search engines and 0.59% from social media. 

The email has been around for decades, and the concept of email autoresponders as a strategic marketing tool was invented by the Founder and CEO of Markethive, Thomas Prendergast. He subsequently refined and established the system and the concept of Automated Marketing which we now call Inbound Marketing.

 

Optimize Your Email Campaigns

As the number of emails sent and received each day increases globally, data experts agree that more than 120 business and consumer emails are sent and received by the average person. It would be fair to say not all those emails are read or even opened. 

Given the statistics above, it's crucial to reevaluate your email marketing campaigns periodically and look for ways to make your emails stand out. To capture your recipient’s attention, you need to craft an intriguing subject line, purposeful salutation, and opening sentence.

Almost two-thirds (59%) of B2B marketers say email is the most effective channel, and marketing through email is the most effective tactic. The same group of B2B marketers surveyed claimed there are some dynamic tactics they can take to make their emails even more effective. 

For example, according to Experian, 56% of email marketers who use emojis in their subject lines have a higher open rate. When used in subject lines, emojis stand out and separate your email from the mountains of other emails. 

 

 

Adding emojis to headlines started in 2015 and has become more prevalent in subsequent years. Studies have shown that emotional content can increase the effectiveness of a marketing campaign by as much as 70%. Emojis show a facial expression related to the message conveyed or an icon related to the product or brand.

Emojis help break the language barrier as they generally hold the same meanings. They also create a more visual element and can retain your customer's attention. They can generate urgency or trigger emotions when used in a subject line, particularly for B2C.

Be sure to keep it relevant to your email subject and not overdo the number of emojis. More than two will look spammy and can put people off. You will need to discern what works for your brand and audience. In some cases, emojis might not be the best option. 

Industries considered serious like law, accounting, and B2B may see it as unprofessional. However, your industry shouldn’t dictate what may work for your emails. Many emojis could be suitable, like calculators, clip boards, stop signs or dollar symbols, etc. There are many options to find the right emojis for your company.  

Appboy conducted a poll and found that people enjoy emojis in general. More than 64% like or love emojis, compared to only 6% who dislike them. Consumers are exposed to emojis regularly in their everyday life: 87% use them in their texting and messaging, and 68% receive a message with emojis from friends or family once a day or more.

The good news for marketers is that 39% of participants thought the emoji touch in emails from brands was fun. Although there has been a steady rise in emoji-focused email campaigns, 60% said they received emails from brands only once a month, and 35% have never received an emoji campaign. 

 


Image source Optinmonster

 

Tips For Using Emojis In Your Email Marketing

  • Use sites such as Emojispedia to find emojis. Simply copy and paste the emojis you want to use in your email subject line.
  • Don’t use emojis just for the sake of using them. Make sure the emojis are relevant to your audience.
  • When using emojis, tone and context do matter. Use emojis that complement your message.
  • Ensure your audience responds well to emojis before sending them in emails to all your subscribers. A/B test emails with and without emojis allow the difference in open rate to help you determine what is working.
  • Finally, don’t go overboard. While emojis are fun to use, it’s easy to overdo them. Maybe just reserve them for special occasions.

By using emojis in the correct context, you could create the top email subject lines in your industry. Not only do emojis capture interest, but they can boost your email's response rate, too.

 

Why Are Engaging Email Introductions Important?

Now that we’ve caught the recipient's attention with a fetching and novel subject line, a robust email introduction encourages your reader to continue scanning the body of your message. 

The best emails have an engaging greeting and opening sentence that secures the recipient’s interest and buy-in. Ideally, a captivating introduction ultimately leads readers to take action. 

A thoughtful email opening sentence is helpful when asking recipients to:  

  • Click on a link
  • Respond to a question
  • Participate in a survey
  • Provide additional clarity
  • Review a document or other information
  • Provide business-related support
  • RSVP

A compelling opener sets the tone for your message, and it can also entice recipients to spend more of their time with the message and help your email sidestep the terrible “trash bin.”

 

Six Strong Ways To Start An Email

Below is a list of email greetings and opening sentences that keep recipients and their time a priority.

Appropriate Salutations

1. Dear %%Name%%
This email greeting is an appropriate salutation for formal email correspondence. It’s typically used in cover letters, official business letters, and other communication when you want to convey respect for the recipient. Personalization can improve open rates by up to 26%

Although honorifics like “Mr.” and “Mrs.” were once accepted, they risk misgendering or erroneously assuming the reader’s marital status. So, just use either first name or full name to be on the safe side.

2. Hi or Hello
As far as email greetings go, an informal “Hi” followed by a comma is acceptable in most work-related messages. If a slightly more formal tone is preferred, consider the salutation “Hello.” 

Although this is considered an informal greeting, it also conveys a straightforward and friendly tone.

3. Greeting A Group Of People
When writing an email message to two or more people, you have a few options. “Hi everyone,” “Hi team,” or “Hi %%department name%% team” are informal yet professional ways to greet a group of people.

They also avoid gender-specific addresses to a group, like “Hi guys,” “Hi ladies,” or “Gentlemen,” which might not accurately describe the recipients.

Engaging Email Opening Sentences

4. I hope your week is going well, or I hope you had a lovely weekend
These are effective email opening sentences because they acknowledge your reader first and help build rapport with a colleague you already know or with whom you want to develop a friendly working relationship. 

5. I’m reaching out about . . . 
Beginning an email with “I’m reaching out about . . . ” is polite and direct and clarifies the purpose of the email. With hundreds of email correspondences transmitted in a single business day, this approach shows you’re being conscientious about the recipient’s time by getting straight to the point.

Stating your intent also avoids miscommunication or confusion about what you need from the reader. 

6. Thanks for . . . 
Expressing gratitude is another way to put the reader first. If the email you’re writing is in response to an email or action by the recipient, acknowledging that at the start builds on workplace companionship.

 

Six Ways Not To Begin An Email

The salutations and opening sentences below carry a stiff tone and, in some cases, suggest a careless approach. If your goal is to come across as genuine and thoughtful, it’s best to avoid these phrases. 

Salutations To Avoid

1. To whom it may concern
Although “To whom it may concern” seems like a professional salutation, it’s impersonal and overused. It suggests that you didn’t care to confirm who your recipient is or whether your message pertains to them.
This also applies to the email greeting, “Dear Sir or Madam.” In this case, the gender-binary greeting is dated and could be considered noninclusive.

2. Hi %%Misspelled Name%%
Confirm that you've used the correct spelling when using the recipient’s name in an email salutation. Typos happen, but misspelling a person’s name sends a red flag that you didn’t write your message with care or attention to detail. 

3. Dear %%ENTER NAME HERE%%
Misspelling a recipient’s name in an email greeting should be avoided, as should another salutation blunder: entirely forgetting to enter their name into a prewritten template.

Using an email template without any personalization in the hope of captivating your reader will likely be ineffective. If you must use a templated message for efficiency, always double-check that you’ve changed any placeholders in the salutation with the recipient’s correctly spelled name. 

Opening Sentences To Avoid

4. Can you do me a favor?
When you don’t know the recipient and email them for the first time, an opening sentence like “Can you do me a favor?” can feel abrupt and has a self-serving tone. 

Instead, consider an email opening sentence that concisely explains the problem you’re hoping to solve with their assistance, like “I’m reaching out about . . . ”

5. I know you’re busy, but . . . 
This email introduction, at best, assumes the reader’s time is precious. At worst, it suggests that you’re aware of that fact, but you deserve their attention nonetheless. 

Regardless of your relationship with the reader, avoid this introductory sentence and briefly explain why you’re messaging them.

6. Let me introduce myself
This email opener is typically used for email recipients for the first time. Beginning an email with “Let me introduce myself” is like narrating your introduction, and it sounds declarative but wastes time. Instead, cut to the chase. 

Additional tips for an engaging email introduction

  • Know your audience. The email salutation and opening sentence for your message should reflect your relationship with the audience. Consider whether you’re writing for a client, a professional acquaintance, or a close colleague. 
  • Make your purpose clear. When the purpose of your email is unclear, it can leave the reader confused or frustrated. To avoid missing this critical factor, try incorporating the intention of your email into the opening sentence.

It’s essential to realize what you need to do to get the attention of your customers when their inboxes are already saturated with messages. Take the time to think about improving your email marketing strategy to ensure your emails rise above the clutter.

Markethive – The Holistic Approach

Email marketing is the undisputed leader in terms of ROI. From a marketing perspective, the statistics on reach and engagement show email open rates are generally 20-30%, unlike the organic reach on Facebook at only 2-6%. (i.e., the number of your fans who see your posts in their Newsfeed)

Likewise, click-through rates (CTR) from email are generally in the 3% range, while CTR on LinkedIn is in the 0.6% range. However, email marketing is not in competition with social media, nor are they separate entities. Combined, they offer a more holistic approach and provide a seamless experience for customers. 

Markethive offers a comprehensive, inclusive platform integrating a social interface, remote broadcasting to other social media and digital sites, and inbound marketing mechanisms that bring brands and customers together. 

Email delivery is a top priority at Markethive and a powerful aspect of our inbound marketing system. It has earned the reputation of producing an emailing system that delivers your messages to 97% of your recipients’ accounts with 100% delivery to their INBOX.

The Markethive email autoresponder system is free when you join Markethive and is built for beginners through to Entrepreneurs and Business Owners at any level. There are no limitations on the amount or size of your list of subscribers and no upcharges. 

Email reaches your customers one-on-one, and the social aspect of Markethive is ideal for driving customers as communities. Markethive has paired them together for the most effective and dynamic marketing strategy.

 

What’s Coming To Markethive? 

The current email autoresponder in Markethive sends a series of emails out linearly. Segments are sequenced to be delivered every day, alternate day, or whatever day you choose when configuring your email campaign. 

The great news is that we have an alternative new email system being developed, consisting of more in-depth programming that will make the delivery of your emails more dynamic and intuitive. The program will identify what emails were opened and send out the following email aligned with the first email. 

The recipient's actions within that email will determine which type of email will subsequently be delivered to them. If the email is not opened, it will not follow up with a second email. So the system will fork off the original email depending on any given outcome. 

The report on your email delivery will have more concise data displaying how many overall emails went out, how many were delivered, how many were opened, and how many bounced back as rejected due to errors in the address or full inbox issues. 

The whole purpose behind this is not to spam people or hit them with messages they don’t want but to produce quality material that helps educate people and those looking for answers to their particular problems through systems like this.  By using these methods, you establish authority, and the credibility that your sphere of influence you create will appreciate what you are doing.

You will be able to keep using Markethive’s original autoresponder; you will now just have a choice.

For all the latest updates on what’s happening in Markethive, come to our weekly meetings on Sundays at 10 am Mountain time. The link to the meeting room is in the Markethive calendar. 

See you there and God Bless You 

 

 

Tim Moseley

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What is a Workcation?

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What is a Workcation? ðŸ¤”

by, Demir Bentley, founder, The Lifehack Method

 

Have you ever heard of a workcation?

It’s exactly what it sounds like: grabbing your laptop and taking work on the road with you!

Before the rise of remote work, there were really only two categories…

You were either working or on vacation.

But now we are seeing the rise of this third category and we’re SO stoked about it.

My wife Carey and I did a month-long workcation in Paris last year, and it was one of the most productive months in the business we've ever had! Not to mention how much FUN we had exploring Paris as a family ðŸ˜„

 

I recently talked with ABC7 about the concept of a workcation. If you’re curious about bringing your work on the road with you, definitely check this interview out!

 

 

New Opportunities Are Emerging For Citizens of The World.

Freedom and democracy may appear to be struggling to stay alive in America, but there may be a knock-out punch ready to be released. The evolution of the blockchain-enabled metaverse is going to enable the 'Citizens of the World' to gain their own Freedom by democratizing power and creating a new world with new rules, new players, and new opportunities. For 99.99% of us, the metaverse will improve our real-world lives through the democratization of power and opportunity.

Along with the major long-term trend of society towards decentralization and smaller-scale organizations, there are new opportunities developing to help 'Preparers' in the cryptocurrency sector. Businesses are beginning to issue their own Crypto Coins that can be traded on Cryptocoin Exchanges.

Markethive.com for example will be releasing its HiveCoin (HIV) in the coming weeks. It has tremendous upside potential that is outlined in a Video by Founder Tom Prendergast, "Entrepreneur Advantage…".

Not only that, if you go to their website and register as a FREE Member, you will be given 500 HiveCoins for "FREE" along with access to several Earning Opportunities and online tools to increase your HiveCoin balance.

Be sure to check it out today – Markethive.com

Markethive

Tim Moseley

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Twitter HQWhere Hell Froze Over

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Twitter HQ…Where Hell Froze Over!

by Jeff Brown, editor, The Bleeding Edge

 

Twitter HQ...Where Hell Froze Over!

 

What an incredible turn of events

As a response to Elon Musk’s offer to acquire Twitter on April 14, Twitter’s board immediately adopted a poison pill defense to ensure the acquisition by Musk wouldn’t happen. I can imagine the board members chortling over the poison pill vote saying, “It’ll be a cold day in hell before Musk takes us over…”

Of course, I’m just paraphrasing. I’m sure much fouler language was used. But the funniest part is that hell did just freeze over. The board was “forced” to accept the offer from Musk at a buyout price of $54.20 a share, or roughly $44 billion. I used the word “forced” for a reason. Twitter’s board made a critical mistake… They left themselves exposed and in a weak position. 

They neglected their fiduciary responsibility as members of the board who are supposed to be acting in the best interest of shareholders. That’s where they failed. The way the poison pill was designed would have resulted in a material decrease in the value of Twitter and its share price. The major shareholders of course knew that. The board, in one fell swoop, created enemies of those who they were supposed to be working on behalf of.

 

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey struggled with his dysfunctional board for years.

He’s a brilliant entrepreneur, but even the best can be stifled by a bad board. And we just got a glimpse of how big the struggle was for him. So with so much hate and distaste for Musk and his beliefs, why did the board capitulate?

The answer is that they had no choice. The 12 days that followed after Musk’s original offer were most certainly a scramble. With an offer like that in the air, it meant that Twitter was “in play.” The board had to canvas the investment banks and private equity markets to see if there were any other possible bidders out there at a higher price… Preferably one that was seen as being less principled than Musk.

 

 

Clearly, there were none

Otherwise, the board wouldn’t have agreed to the “no shop” provision in the deal that prohibits Twitter from taking another offer. And the board’s foolish poison pill gave Musk even more influence over the large shareholders of Twitter. The shareholder base was clearly able to force the hand of the board to accept the offer from Musk.

The criticism has been harsh from some. It’s typically along the lines of, “Rich people shouldn’t be allowed to control media companies.” Yet it’s perfectly OK to those critics that Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post, and Mark Zuckerberg controls Meta (Facebook).

The other tired complaint is that Twitter will now be awash with misinformation and disinformation under Musk’s control. The most ironic part about comments like that is that Google, Facebook, and Twitter all banned scientific research and/or world-renowned epidemiologists, virologists, and cardiologists from their platforms during the pandemic, considering them all to be in the class of “misinformation.” It pains me to even write those words, they are so absurd.

What is it about Musk’s ideas that are so hated by this toxic minority?

  • “Twitter has become the de facto town square, and it’s really important that people have both the reality and perception that they are able to speak freely within the bounds of the law.”

  • Musk plans to remove the political bias from Twitter’s algorithms and make the source code available in order to prevent "behind the scenes manipulation, either algorithmically or manually.”

  • He pledged to defeat the “spambots” that have been used by bad actors and nation-states to negatively influence not only society but also elections.

  • The plan is to authenticate all humans who use the platform.

  • He believes that freedom of speech is a fundamental right and that it is a necessity for a free and democratic society.

It’s hard to disagree with the above… In fact, this is precisely what needs to happen in order to unleash the value of Twitter.  To use Musk’s words, Twitter’s “behind the scenes manipulation” has fomented hate and division, and it has also resulted in a deeply undervalued company.

 

Musk can and will fix Twitter as a platform

He managed to pick up Twitter at an incredible price. Presuming that Musk takes Twitter public again at some time in the next two or three years, he is going to make a fortune – at least two or three times his investment.

Can Musk fix Twitter? Absolutely. Just have a look at what he’s built to date:

  • Tesla (worth $1 trillion) – the world’s most successful clean energy company

  • SpaceX (valued at $100 billion) – the world’s most successful aerospace company

  • Boring Company (valued at $5.7 billion) – the world's most innovative boring company

  • Neuralink (valued at $2.1 billion) – is on the verge of a breakthrough for brain-computer interface technology

Any one of these accomplishments would be an outlier, but four of them? Plus, we know there will be more to come, presuming Musk doesn’t work himself to death. 

But the incredible thing about his deal with Twitter is that if he is successful in affecting the changes that he intends, it may very well be the greatest contribution he’ll make… Is the restoration of one of our most fundamental and cherished rights, freedom of speech.

 

New Opportunities Are Emerging For Citizens of The World.

Freedom and democracy may appear to be struggling to stay alive in America, but there may be a knock-out punch ready to be released. The evolution of the blockchain-enabled metaverse is going to enable the 'Citizens of the World' to gain their own Freedom by democratizing power and creating a new world with new rules, new players, and new opportunities. For 99.99% of us, the metaverse will improve our real-world lives through the democratization of power and opportunity.

Along with the major long-term trend of society towards decentralization and smaller-scale organizations, there are new opportunities developing to help 'Preparers' in the cryptocurrency sector. Businesses are beginning to issue their own Crypto Coins that can be traded on Cryptocoin Exchanges.

Markethive.com for example will be releasing its HiveCoin (HIV) in the coming weeks. It has tremendous upside potential that is outlined in a Video by Founder Tom Prendergast, "Entrepreneur Advantage…".

Not only that, if you go to their website and register as a FREE Member, you will be given 500 HiveCoins for "FREE" along with access to several Earning Opportunities and online tools to increase your HiveCoin balance.

Be sure to check it out today – Markethive.com

Markethive

Tim Moseley