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Why Is a Creative Education Critical for Society?

There is no doubt that a creative education is critical for society. A recent study by Adobe revealed that 82% of business leaders believe that creativity is the most important skill for the future of work. By teaching students how to think creatively, we are giving them the ability to come up with new solutions to problems and create positive change in the world. So how do you ensure your child gets a creative education?

Previously, studying creative subjects through schooling was seen to be soft and ‘nice to have’, but not essential. As a result, school curriculums gradually changed, favoring the ‘hard’ subjects of science and math. Too often still, schools focus on standardized tests and rote memorization instead of teaching students how to be creative thinkers.

But now, the creative economy is booming. Jobs in the creative economy now account for 7% of total jobs, and the sector is expanding five times faster than any other sector. It is widely appreciated that creative and critical thinking will be the answer to many of the world’s problems. People with these skills could find themselves working for almost any industry that is out there, from engineering to space exploration.

Many parents find that schools are not preparing students adequately for jobs in the creative economy. So how can you ensure your child gets the skills they need to thrive in our future world?

Find The Right School

The first step is to find a school that values creativity and offers opportunities for students to explore their creative side. This might be a school that has arts and music programs, one that emphasizes project-based learning, or private schools that focus on a humanist, musical or creative education.

It is also important to look for a school that has teachers who are passionate about creativity and are willing to help students develop their skills. These teachers should be using innovative teaching methods and encouraging students to think outside the box.

Encourage Creativity At Home

It is also important to encourage creativity at home. This can be done by providing opportunities for your child to express themselves creatively, such as through art, music, or writing. You can also help them develop their creative skills by encouraging them to come up with new ideas, solve problems in different ways, and think outside the box. This is an important aspect of creativity, because art is just one facet of a creative education.

Encouraging entrepreneurship and engagement with society’s issues can be a brilliant way of developing a creative and critical mindset in your children. Setting them challenges during the school holidays could be a great way to develop this. Task them to find different uses from the trash you throw away in your household. Or join a coding for kids class online together, to understand how technology works and how it can be applied in innovative ways.

Explore Extracurricular Activities

There are also many extracurricular activities that can help develop creativity. These include things like drama, dance, and music classes, as well as art and design classes. It is important to find an activity that your child enjoys and that they can stick with for a while. This will give them the opportunity to really explore their creative side and develop their skills.

It is also important to encourage your child to be persistent and not give up when they are faced with a challenge. This is an important skill for creativity, because it allows children to keep trying new things until they find something that works. 

Create Time For Free Play

In a world of structures and timetables, it is especially important to ensure that your child has time for free play. This is because free play is essential for creativity. It allows children to explore their imaginations, try new things, and make mistakes. Free play also helps children develop problem-solving skills and learn how to cooperate with others.

Scientists have even found that free play can help children develop resilience, as they learn how to cope with failure and setbacks. It can even help them to thrive academically, because it allows them to practice critical thinking and develop their own learning strategies.

Encourage Curiosity

It is also important to encourage curiosity in your child. This means encouraging them to ask questions, explore new things, and be open to different ideas. Curiosity is an important part of creativity, because it allows children to come up with new ideas and think outside the box.

You can nurture curiosity by asking lots of questions yourself. If you discuss the things you see when you’re out together, it shows children that you don’t know everything, and that anything in the world is up for discussion.

A creative education is critical for society because it helps children develop the skills they need to thrive in our future world. Creative skills are essential for solving problems and creating positive change in the world. There are many things children can do in their younger years that will enable them to come up with new ideas and think from different perspectives.

Connecting Sales and Business with Bestselling Author Andy Miller in an Exclusive Interview

‘The Science of Hiring Quota Busting Sales Teams,’ a bestselling book by Andy Miller, is one of those books that many readers wish they had read in college because of its ability to help them achieve the success they are looking for when it comes to sales. But in reality it is an amazing read for anyone looking to increase sales.

Andy Miller, CEO

Andy Miller, CEO

Andy Miller, the CEO of www.BigSwiftKick.com, an international sales strategy and performance consulting firm specializing in helping middle-market companies accelerate sales. He has 29 years of experience and is responsible for helping companies generate $5.7 Billion in new business across 200 industries in 46 countries. Sales Consulting – Big Swift Kick

‘The Science of Hiring Quota Busting Sales Teams,’ is the first book written on hiring salespeople based upon 85 years of organizational psychology research, data analytics on 2.1 million salespeople and the best practices of top performing sales organizations. This book was written to help companies hire stronger salespeople and achieve more success.

What are three key experiences that you learned throughout your academic life that you carried into your career today?

I paid my way through college, worked full time and took a full course load. I didn’t have the option to drop a course if things weren’t going well. The three most significant lessons I learned from that experience were…

Grit and doing whatever it takes to succeed because failure is not an option. You need a compelling reason, a strong sense of purpose to drive your grit.

Professors, the administration, and staff want to help; all you have to do is ask for it, which applies to life after graduation too!

If you can give any advice to someone reading this at the college level, what would it be and why?

Listen to the audiobook by Roger Dawson on Audible.com called Beyond Goals. It was previously named, Make Your Life An Adventure. Because of that book, I made a 14-page bucket list and have accomplished more than I ever dreamed possible! It’s a great guide to turning your dreams into reality.

As one of leading sales gurus in the country what sales fields in today’s market would you recommend students apply for after graduation?

It’s not so much what field. It’s more what’s your interest. The graduates who are the most successful in sales had a major in their area of interest with a minor in business or sales and marketing. If you want to go into high-tech sales, get a major in computer science. If you want to get a job in medical sales, study biology. Also, get a minor in sales and marketing or business. You could reverse those and get a major in business or sales and marketing with a minor in your area of interest.

Entrepreneurship or Corporate life, you have been in both throughout your life, what are some of the pros and cons that you have found in each level and which avenue would you take if you were coming out of college today?

That depends on how you are wired. I am wired to be an entrepreneur. I like wearing multiple hats, the independence, the ability to make your own rules, the money, and the opportunity to have an impact on businesses and people. The downside is you work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it’s high risk, stressful, and it can be hard on relationships. However, working in the corporate world, you have resources, support, and stability. It may or may not have a great culture so check Glassdoor. Some corporations offer stock options and if you pick the right one you can do well. The downside is your roles and responsibility are narrower and navigating internally can be time consuming and frustrating. If you want to go the corporate route decide if small, medium or large is the right fit for you.

Apart from your bestselling book what are three other business books that you would recommend as “Must Reads” to all college students?

These are all classics, and the examples are a little dated, but the wisdom is timeless. First is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, a great book on principles of entrepreneurship. The second is How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, which is about building relationships. The third is Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles, the most compelling book on why we have a social obligation to become rich.

To find out more about ‘The Science of Hiring Quota Busting Sales Teams’ and Andy Miller head over to Amazon.

What Are the Advantages and Applications of Digital Twin Technology?

A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical object, process, or system. It uses simulation and real-time data to help predict outcomes and enhance decision-making. A digital twin can be a replica of anything. It can be small and simple like a microchip or big and complex like an entire city. Sensors that are attached to physical assets can collect and transmit data, allowing the digital twin to be updated with crucial real-time information.

With the advancement of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the IoT (Internet of Things) for Industry 4.0, digital twin technology has become a staple in modern planning and engineering. Digital twins create opportunities for key personnel to gain valuable inside into performance and risks. The ability to rapidly test multiple scenarios drives innovation and improves performance throughout the product lifecycle.

Applications of digital twin technology

Product design and manufacturing

As technology advances, product developers and manufacturers gain the ability to test drive their concepts and features from ideation through to completion. Digital twins can be used in product design to test prototypes and simulate their lifecycles before any actual manufacturing occurs. 3D models can also be used as mock-ups to gain approval from stakeholders and investors or to assist with user acceptance testing. This prevents the wastage of costs and resources associated with manufacturing, particularly when the product is subject to improvements. Digital twin technology is used extensively in the automotive industry.

Urban and road planning

Digital twin technology can help civil engineers, council officials, and other individuals involved in urban planning and urban design. Spatial digital twin systems allow these people to visualize 3D and 4D spatial data in real-time. This enables them to anticipate patterns and future needs as well as integrate proposed design elements into existing environments. Planners can see how a road or a building will affect the environment, traffic flow, or population, and make calculated decisions that are supported by data.

Understanding structures

The design stage of large physical structures such as offshore drilling platforms involves a large amount of planning and engineering. With digital twin technology, a range of designs, materials, and support structures can be trialed, allowing engineers to make the best decisions while considering various factors such as cost and structural integrity. A digital twin of a structure such as a building can also be useful for interior planning. For instance, it can be used to design ventilation systems or plumbing improvements.

Predictive maintenance

With predictive maintenance, costly unscheduled downtime can be avoided. Digital twin technology allows asset managers to maintain equipment such as large engines or power-generation turbines before a risk or defect becomes severe enough to require a full repair. This saves user asset managers a considerable amount of resources and prevents a whole host of trouble that can result from sudden asset failure.

Reliability engineering

Reliability engineers predict and manage risk and reliability associated with equipment and machine function. The ability to monitor assets and access near real-time data also helps reliability engineers to make more informed decisions instead of having to guessed based on their experience. As digital twin technology becomes more affordable and scalable, reliability engineers can use it to improve the overall performance, efficiency, and resilience of their systems.

Making decisions

Aside from equipment maintenance, digital twin technology can influence a myriad of assessments by allowing decision-makers to find answers rapidly and at a minimal resource cost. Digital twin technology can help building designers measure the structural impact of replacing a material; help traffic planners understand the implications of closing a road; help product designers measure the advantages of adding a new feature. Digital twin technology allows for repeated testing with varying parameters until the most ideal solution is found.

Complex training

Apprenticeships are a traditional way of training specialized workers. But as knowledgeable workers dwindle in number; assets become more complex; components become smaller, the feasibility and efficiency of long apprenticeships and training attachments decrease. Digital twin technology can be used to help tech trainees gain access to a wider range of experience and information, allowing them to learn more in a shorter period and be trained to a more accurate degree.

Reporting and regulatory compliance

As producers and industry stakeholders are increasingly invested in maximizing the utility of resources, the entire lifecycle of a product comes under scrutiny. It is important to not only maintain a view of a product and its components as it is manufactured and used but also after it is retired, decommissioned, repurposed, recycled, or scrapped. Furthermore, many substances such as plastics or heavy metals are subject to strict disposal regulations. Digital twin technology can help ensure that products meet the reporting and regulatory requirements throughout their entire lifecycle.

Digital twin technology is now synonymous with informed planning and decision-making. As smart cities grow, they need virtual models to meet their complex challenges and become more livable and sustainable. In manufacturing and engineering, digital twin technology prevents costly failures and ensures that products perform at their best throughout their entire lifecycle.

How to Upgrade Your Digital Marketing

Your brand has a good-looking website, an active blog, and a presence on social media. Yet, you may still not meet your revenue goals. Digital marketing is a complicated field that has many nuances and levels of expertise. Although you may have covered the basics, there are several techniques used by digital marketing agencies that can enhance your online presence and marketing impact. Here are four ways of upgrading your digital marketing strategy to ignite growth.

Regular content vs. SEO-focused content

Many businesses know that publishing blogs are a good form of digital marketing, but fail to understand the methodology behind how it works. Your blog content needs to fulfill certain criteria such as text length before it will be greenlighted by search engines and start to work for your digital marketing, Therefore, you should spend some time researching how to craft content with SEO in mind before you write your blog posts.

Instead of writing about random topics, use SEO tools to research keywords. One way to do this is to examine the traffic that your competitors receive and the keywords that drive this traffic. Check the keywords that direct traffic to your site as well as your search engine results page (SERP) rankings for these keywords. Then, prioritize the three most important keywords and craft content that is highly relevant.

Improve the value of your content to ensure that it works harder for your digital marketing. Aside from text, create infographics to help your audience better understand the information you present. Posts with infographics are more likely to be pinned on Pinterest and shared on social media. You can also complement your blog posts with long or short-form videos and open up a video marketing channel that leads back to your website.

Backlinks vs. high-DA backlinks

Backlinks are important to your SERP ranking because search engines use the reputation of the sites that link to you to gauge the corresponding quality of your page. One metric for evaluating the reputation of a site in the eyes of a search engine is domain authority (DA). Although DA is not a Google metric, it is widely used by backlink SEO experts to determine if a third-party site can potentially improve your SERP rankings.

Just as high-DA sites can strengthen your SERP ranking, poor-DA sites and sites that are blacklisted by Google can weaken your SERP ranking. Quantity does not necessarily translate to quality when it comes to backlinks. Therefore, not every free linking opportunity should be pursued. Before submitting your site to business directories or cheap backlink providers, be sure to check the DA of the sites that they use.

Multichannel vs. omnichannel

Your business may engage in multichannel marketing, but does it engage in omnichannel marketing? Multichannel marketing is where you maintain multiple marketing channels such as Facebook, email, and your website. The content in each marketing channel is independent and there is little—if any—overlap across the channels. Customers select the channel in which they interact with your business.

Omnichannel marketing takes multichannel marketing to another level. With omnichannel marketing, the user journey is not confined to one channel. Your brand is accessible and interacts on all channels, providing a seamless and consistent customer experience. For instance, if a prospect browsed items on your site but did not make a purchase, you can connect with them through a Facebook ad or an email with a promotional offer.

Omnichannel marketing has proven much more effective than multichannel marketing. Statistics show that omnichannel shoppers have a 250 percent higher buyer frequency and a 30 percent higher customer lifetime value (CLV) than single-channel shoppers. In addition, omnichannel shoppers have a 90 percent higher retention rate. Explore omnichannel marketing solutions to improve customer satisfaction and increase sales.

Basic promotion vs. landing page campaign

Promotions and discount coupons are tried and tested ways to increase customer leads and conversions. However, many businesses stop at advertising because they expect that the deal itself will be enough to convince prospects to purchase. Their ads link to the standard website homepage, with no tailored call to action. This results in campaigns generating high traffic but receiving low conversions.

By creating a dedicated landing page specifically constructed to convert visitors for each campaign, you can take your marketing further. From the promotional ad itself to the copy and design of the landing page, everything is purpose-built to funnel the prospect towards your marketing goal. This could be sharing their contact information in exchange for a download or subscribing to your newsletter for a discount code.

Many digital marketing efforts can look good in theory but bring lackluster results in practice. Digital marketing is more than just posting content and having promotions. To drive growth, businesses should emphasize research and execution. From creating SEO-focused content to implementing omnichannel marketing, these steps to upgrade your current digital marketing strategy will allow you to take your campaigns further and achieve better long-term results.