Category Archives: Creativity

3 Ways to Improve Web Design Using Psychology

Contributed article in our business series. Enjoy! – Kimberly

With the proliferation of online commerce and the increasing interconnectedness of our planet, it has never been more important to stand out from the crowd with good, eye-popping design. However, it is not enough to merely grab people’s attention on the web; you need to know what to do with it once it has been gained.

Here are three psychological principles to help you make the best use of your personal online space.

1. Pattern

The English language is the predominant means of communication online. Unless you are designing your website with a specific market in mind, China being a standout example, you will want to tailor your web presence to suit the mentality and the tendencies of English speakers.

English speakers read from the top of the page downward, and from left to right, in a zigzag pattern. So you would be best served by putting your most important information on the upper left corner of the page since that is where their eyes will first rest. What they see there will help them form their first impressions.Continue reading→

Make Smart Mistakes To Achieve Impossible Goals

Originally published on Forbes 14 Oct. 2014.

Author: Kimberly Wiefling

Like most kids, I was taught to avoid mistakes. Perfection was the goal, and errors were punished—sometimes with lower grades, and occasionally with a swat on the behind. Imperfection wasn’t rewarded in adulthood either, where a narrow definition of beauty left me wishing I had a supermodel figure and a more attractive face. Then came the innovation era in the business world. Suddenly we were supposed to cast off years of perfectionism and become wildly creative.

Unfortunately, a famous NASA study showed that the typical 98% creativity scores of five-year-olds falls to a mere 2% by the time these same children become adults. Creativity is messy! The creative path is dotted with imperfection and temporary setbacks, sometimes called failure. We learn to avoid mistakes, and thus stop expressing our creativity, in order to survive in our families, at school, and at work.

Here are five ways to breathe new life into the creativity with which you were born. (For the rest of this, please see the full article on Forbes here.)

Advantages of Using Mixbook

Contributed article in our business series. Enjoy! – Kimberly

Mixbook is a high-quality custom photo books site that presents a variety of options to you and is very simple to use. Mixbook has cover options, such as matte, soft, leather, and glossy. The theme options include Travel, Family, Everyday, Wedding, and Baby. Besides that, Mixbook utilizes square, landscape, and portrait sizes and paper options such as premium matte and semi-gloss. Primarily, Mixbook provides a great variety, such as materials and stickers and high-quality prints. Besides, the software is easy to apply; thus, the task of creating your customized photo books becomes fun instead of a chore. If you are looking for the best site to create your custom photo books, then Mixbook should be your choice, for the reason that it comprises of fully editable and straightforward templates that enable speed creations and creativity.

The following are some of the most exclusive factors that make Mixbook your best choice for the creation of custom photo books.Continue reading→

How to Create the World’s Best Website

Contributed article in our business series. Enjoy! – Kimberly

A website is something that everyone, individual and business alike, should set time aside to create. It’s no longer difficult to do, as there are many resources available that will help you learn how to put it together properly. For starters, it’s all about choosing the right hosting and server to set it up on. Next, the visual and written content ideas must start to come together if you want to leave a lasting impression with it and thus properly market yourself.

In order to learn how to create one of the best websites around, you will have to do some research. For now, your first step is to listen to the advice below.

  1. Choosing the Right Server

To set up your website, you will need a hosting provider where you can share it from. Luckily for you, there are plenty of options available for you to choose from, with one example being VPS hosting. This one is known as a virtual private server. What’s more, they are also one of the most cost-effective ways of using a server, while it still allows you to create a complex site.Continue reading→

3 Improvements to Make your Garden Wildlife-Friendly

Contributed article in our lifestyle series. Enjoy! – Kimberly

As more of our natural wildlife habitat is destroyed by increased construction and urbanization, creating wildlife-friendly gardens to protect biodiversity is a form of damage limitation.

So if you’ve got green fingers and fancy playing your part in saving the planet, here are three simple improvements to make your garden wonderfully wildlife-friendly.

Habitats

Creating a wildlife-friendly environment doesn’t mean that it should transform into an untamed jungle that the neighbors will scoff at.  It should actually be accessible to everyone that frequents it and minor adaptations can make major differences without causing inconvenience.Continue reading→

Book Sample: Chapter 1 of “Jake, Lucid Dreamer”

Contributed article in our author’s series. Enjoy! – Kimberly

12-year-old Jake has been suppressing his heartbreak over the loss of his mother for the past four years. But his emotions have a way of haunting his dreams and bubbling to the surface when he least expects it. When Jake learns how to take control in his dreams, he becomes a lucid dreamer, and that’s when the battle really heats up.

Using his wits to dodge bullies by day and a nefarious kangaroo hopping ever closer by night, Jake learns about loss, bravery, the power of love, and how you cannot fully heal until you face your greatest fear. This uncompromising novel is a magical yet honest exploration of emotional healing after a devastating loss.

CHAPTER ONE

Few experiences are more exciting than your own dreams. Even fewer are more tiresome than listening to someone else’s, but hang with me for a sec. This isn’t what you think.Continue reading→

The Qualities of a Successful Business

Contributed article in our business series. Enjoy! – Kimberly

A successful business requires a lot of work. For your business to be well off, you must first understand what that means. Even with products and services that are popular, there is a need to innovate continuously. That is why it is important to be creative and unique and continue to do so at every stage of the venture. Secondly, as the employees are the heart of any company, the type of people that you hire will greatly affect the end-results. This, in turn, will also alter the company culture, and will thus continue to make it appealing to the right type of prospective employee. You can’t forget about a good online presence so that everyone can find you, the power of emotional marketing, financial stability, a good strategy and taking a look at what the competition is doing. After all, you always want to aim for better. Persistence and adaptability are the final two points to consider.Continue reading→

What it’s Like to Work in a Successful Non-Profit Organization

Contributed article in our career series. Enjoy! – Kimberly

Receiving an MPA online or Master of Public Administration is a rewarding achievement that can lead to a career of tremendous public service. Many of us were taught to go to college to work for a business solely for the purpose of making money. While there is nothing wrong with the desire to make money, MPA’s, on the other hand, are pressed for the desire to make a difference in the community and the world. There are many myths and taboos around the idea of working for a successful Non-Profit Organization that we will cover in this article.

Yes, you get paid to work!

A common misconception is the belief that people show up to work every day, out of the joy of their hearts, but don’t make any actual money when working with a Non-Profit. Everyone needs to pay their bills and feed their families, which is a reality of life, and this is simply not the case. Continue reading→

How To Get Motivated To Achieve

Contributed article in our business series. Enjoy! – Kimberly

Motivation is the reason you get out of bed in the morning. You’re motivated to go to work and earn money to enjoy living. Sometimes this motivation can suffer a setback and not always because of a perceivable reason. There isn’t always one clear reason why your levels of motivation dip, and it can be the culmination of a few factors. For the times when you can’t quite put your finger on the cause, you’re best off to implement a healthy lifestyle and to get out and enjoy your time more often. As the saying goes, “All work and no play makes Jack a sad boy,” so endeavor to enjoy yourself as well as work hard. You need to maintain a balance if you’re going to stay motivated and determined to succeed.Continue reading→

How to Make Your Office More Fun

Contributed article in our business series. Enjoy! – Kimberly

As an employer, you are directly responsible for the level of productivity of your workers. You need to ensure that they are working in a safe and comfortable environment that promotes productivity and boosts their confidence. If workers don’t feel at ease at work, they are very likely to get bored or lose their interest. Therefore, no matter how many important responsibilities you might have, you need to find a way of generating a relaxed atmosphere in the office. Once you do that, your workers will not only become more productive, but they will also be happier while at work.

Luckily, there are a lot of great tips and tricks that can be easily implemented into any office environment. If back in the day people had to be focused on their tasks, things have changed nowadays. People can use technology to unwind and decorate the office space so that they feel inspired. The following tips might come in handy for any business owner who wants to make the office space a bit more fun.Continue reading→