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Green and Healthy Lawn Essentials

green and healthy lawn

A green and healthy lawn is the ultimate goal for any land owner, but getting there isn’t always easy. You water, you fertilise, you weed, but you still think your lawn could look better. However, you don’t want to spend every free moment or a huge sum of money caring for your lawn. Fortunately, you don’t have to. By following these essential lawn care practices, you’re sure to get the lush green lawn of your dreams.

When to Weed

The best time to weed your lawn is whenever weeds first pop up. You can use chemical weed killers to rid your lawn of unsightly plants, but they may damage your grass. Your best bet is to remove any weeds you find including the roots and discarding them away from your lawn. Resist the urge to mow them down with your grass, as this will often spread seeds and leaves the root system behind, giving new weeds the opportunity to pop up. A few moments of weeding here and there will keep your lawn looking its best and save you time, as the job will only get worse the longer you put it off. Regularly weed your lawn in the early spring and summer to stay ahead of the game.

However, we know that sometimes these weeds will get ahead of you and spot weeding is just not possible. That’s when applying a weed killer to your lawn may be the best approach. Weed killer will only work when weeds are actively growing. Good seasons to use weedkiller are autumn and late winter. You need to get to the weeds early before they flower. So if it gets hot in spring, they tend to flower quickly and set seed.

Other Tips:

  • Never apply weedkiller straight after mowing as the weed killer needs leaf to attach to
  • The lawn needs to have moisture in it before applying weed killer, so a day or two after rain is ideal
  • Only apply when your lawn looks green and healthy, not when you going through a drought
  • Check the forecast, and never apply weedkiller before any rain as the chemical will be washed away.

When to Fertilise

The best time to fertilise your lawn is in the early spring when the ground is moist. Fertilising at this time of year helps stimulates root growth, giving your lawn the ability to grow thicker and healthier. A thicker lawn means that weeds will have less of a chance to grow in the first place. The thicker grass will use the bulk of the sunlight, water, nutrients, and space the weeds need to grow and proliferate.

When and How to Water

Rather than watering your lawn a little bit every day, try giving it a good soak as needed instead. Soaking your lawn promotes deeper root development, which creates stronger, healthier grass. Simply sprinkling your lawn means that only the surface soil and root systems are getting watered, which promotes the growth of weeds and sickly looking grass. This could also cause dead spots in your lawn, which is prime real estate for weeds. Also, resist the urge to water your grass at night. Night watering could cause fungi or bacteria that are harmful to grass to grow in the soil. This is because the ground won’t have a chance to dry out properly overnight.

Other Tricks for a Green and Healthy Lawn

To keep your lawn looking green year-round, cut it to a height of one and a half inches for the first and last mows of the season. As the weather warms, raise the blade height to two inches. A sharp mower blade will result in a straighter cut, making your lawn appear decidedly green. Finally, mow your lawn regularly so you only cut the top third of the blades, which should be left on your lawn. Leaving large piles of clippings on your lawn can cause damage, so you’ll want to rake those up. However, the top third of a blade of grass, which will decompose quickly, adds essential nutrients such as nitrogen to the soil. By leaving these clippings, you’re giving it the opportunity to grow greener, healthier, and thicker than ever before.

Written by: outdoor garden lover

 

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Body Language and Facial Expressions: Do they Matter?

Coworking

Our early ancestors lived in an incredibly dangerous world for many years. Without any real language, they needed to have other ways to communicate. Communication was necessary to express their emotions, needs, anxieties, and desires with each other. They managed to do this through using nonverbal communications including physical changes, gestures, sounds, and facial or body responses. Our biological heritage meant that for so long that we communicated nonverbally. Let’s take a closer look at body language, including how it has evolved to where it is today. Between things like facial expressions and even how we fold our arms, our body gives us away.

Evolution of Body Language

We evolved; learning to verbally communicate with each other as well as bettering our skills of understanding body language. The result is that it has made such a vast difference in our lives and allowed our species to continue to thrive. Otherwise, there would have been a problem with our species becoming extinct long ago. It has taken a great deal of time, but these skills are infinitely better than they were before. Here is a closer look at this evolution.

This technique has developed with time. Without conscious behavior’s, some signals directly alert others of any risks that are perceived. We are also able to communicate to others around us immediately. As our brain forces us to freeze in place when we see an aggressive dog, it conveys our body’s reaction. It is noticeable whether or not we are comfortable or uncomfortable, content or hopeless, safe or in danger. The benefit is two-fold. As we physically react to the world around us, others can benefit. For instance, if we taste something disgusting, people will see our facial expression. They will not even need to taste it because they will know by your face that the food is terrible. Body language gives you an efficient way to communicate before your words can even come out. As you can see, body language is essential to our evolution.

Importance of Body Language and Facial Expression

Body language has not only evolved from the need of survival, though this is the main reason for it. Our brain also expresses intentions through body language. For example, say you are speaking to someone, and you notice that their feet are pointing towards an exit. You will know that this person probably needs to leave. They may be running late for something and need to go. They stay to talk to be polite, but they need to go. You can see this through their body language, and you can end this conversation. A perfect example as to why we say that actions speak louder than words.

So what’s psychologically behind all of this? Our demands, feelings, thoughts, emotions, and motives are processed by what’s known as the limbic system of the brain. The limbic system has input into what our body naturally does without thought. For instance, when someone gives us bad news and our lips compress instantly, or you are asked to work another weekend, and we narrow our eyes as our chin lowers. These are common facial expressions for these situations, and stress displays that our limbic brain has perfected over the years. You are not reacting this way based on cultural identity; rather these are things that everyone does.

How People View Us

Body language helps people get clues on how we feel about them or how they should view us. When we see someone that we are comfortable with, our eyebrows will arch defying, and our facial muscles will relax. Our arms will be pliable so we can welcome them. In the presence of someone we love, we are going to have very specific reactions. We tend to lean our head, and blood will flow to our lips making them complete, as our pupils dilate. This signifies that our bodies naturally adjust to the authentic thoughts that we feel.
Our bodies do not have to react like this. However, we evolved to present them for a reason. We are social creatures that want to communicate verbally and non-verbally. Understanding body language is quite crucial and also very fascinating. There have been reported cases where children who are born blind, having never visualised these non-verbal cues can instinctively do them. For example, a child that is blind had covered their eyes when they heard something they do not enjoy. This suggests that body language is hardwired into us.

Conclusion

What one visually observes can in combination with other cues, be an excellent way to discover how others feel about you and assess how a relationship is evolving. Frequently when people feel that something is wrong in a relationship, this can be expressed in body language displays. Couples who hold hands all the time may or may not be a real indication of their relationship if it’s done out of habit. Instead, the subtle behaviours may be more accurate representation. Learning the art of reading body language can go a long way. It can help us identify what others are feeling, believing, wanting or worrying about. Having that additional insight gives a much better evaluation of others. In turn, it helps us in communicating more empathetically and efficiently for better comprehension. No matter where we are, our body language will give us away. You have all been there when someone is saying “yes” to you; however, the body language is saying “no”. Our body language will tell observers what we are thinking and feeling, giving off signals to the people around us.
Author: Professional researcher

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Time Management Tools and Tips

time management juggle

Time management has always been a challenge whether it is for a small businesses owner or anyone that has many tasks to manage. Let’s face it, you want to make the most of a day, and being organised is essential. Before modern technology that we have today, this was a seemingly challenging task. However, now we have a wide array of tools available to us to ensure our business is running efficiently. You may not think that you need these tools; however, it can impact the success of your business if you don’t utilise them. This article discusses why you need these tools, some tips for usage and three popular tools you should check out.

Why You Need Time Management Tools

The core reason for project management is making sure many tasks are completed on time and budget. Predecessor tasks that are not completed on time, hold up other tasks and projects can get blown out on both time and budget. Now a Project Manager for a long time has used a Ghant chart to show how all the activities are linked and when the project will be completed. Using this type of project management for a small business, with multiple projects, tasks, activities and employees are challenging, because a Ghant chart lacks flexibility. These days everyone is mobile and want information instantly. Therefore, every user should have online access to tasks, be able to give updates and attach information so that all information is shared instantly. Not only that, the process must be agile enough, so that if changes are needed, tasks can be altered, changed and fed back into the system.

An agile approach

Luckily enough born on the back of software development and the constant changes required when software is being developed, project management took a shift with the development of a more agile approach, even naming a type of project management framework Agile Methodology. A bunch of tools which we discuss below have utilised this methodology. Within these systems, Project Boards, Lists, Tasks and Users can be created, and you can drag and drop tasks around within the software to dynamically adjust and plan out the tasks so that everyone’s time is effectively utilised. If you think about it, its the same requirement as to when you are running a business or someone that has a lot to plan out.

Tools for time and project Management

Now here are some amazing tools that you need to check out and some of the benefits of each:

Asana

The goal of Asana is to help you and your teams manage their tasks as well as their workflows. It has a very easy to use interface, and it is quite flexible to individual needs. Asana incorporates a well-designed web interface and app, which makes it easy to use on whatever device you have. Projects have a task list that can be set up by the project manager, making the project easy to manage. It’s very easy to communicate with other users and conversations are captured and stored. Another good thing here is that most of the tools are free when you first sign up, it’s only when you go over a certain amount of users do you have to pay subscriptions fees. So from day one you get most of the power from an Asana development point of view. There is online support with Asana which is handy.

Trello

Trello is a fully customisable tool that you can adapt to your individual business needs. There are many free openly developed add-ons to Trello that can be enabled on your Firefox or Chrome browser. However the base set is pretty simple, and enabling some of these tools can be tricky. In saying that Trello has close to 68 Integrations, which makes this tool probably the most flexible out there. It can consolidate any projects and communications with the team into a single location for convenience. Users are updated of any changes within tasks, via Apps, Web console and email. The projects are now easy to view allowing you to see all of the workflows in a single look. It turns your project into something that employees can visualise, improving the efficiency of your employees. Each user can add on what makes sense for them in their portal, like calendars, agile scrum functions, CRM, and time tracker software, to name a few.

Trello has just been acquired by Atlassian which already makes very powerful collaboration tools such as Confluence, JIRA, HipChat and BitBucket. With this we will probably see some great integrations coming our way, making Trello an even more powerful tool. One downside of Trello is that customer support seems to be an area when compared to other platforms is not as high priority.

 Wunderlist

Wunderlist is an application that can work across many operating platforms, making it accessible to more people. From this application employees can see the tasks assigned to them. It also allows you to track any goals that need to be met and share when you have completed them. There are also spots for comments for the team members and send out reminders to the team. Wunderlist is very customisable to meet your specific needs. The good thing on this is that the free version includes many functionalities. Like the others, the drag and drop type control interface is very smooth and easy to use. It doesn’t have the feel of being as powerful as Asana or Trello. However, if you intend to keep your business relatively small, this may be exactly the simple tool to use for you.

Whether it be for managing your own time, your companies time or your teams time, using one of these tools above you are going to notice a huge improvement in the efficiency of your day.

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Tips for better broking – money, commission and performance

commission broker money

As an investor, you depend on your broker to be an advisor who will share critical information that is in your best interest. However, it is no secret that many of these individuals are more interested in lining their own pockets. So, how can you tell if your broker is getting you the best deal? In this article, we’ll give you some tips to help you decide if your broker is working for you or themselves.

Broker commission and investments

A broker’s commission is an important piece to understand. These are the fees you agree to pay the broker for expediting a deal. Depending on what you’re investing in (see diversifying investments), there are multiple ways you may be paying this fee, and it could be affecting your returns without your knowledge. When it comes to marketable commodities, such as stocks, the commission is most often a fixed-rate, generally under $10 per exchange. By investing with a full-service brokerage firm, chances are you’re paying higher fees based on the number of valued shares being traded.

It’s important to minimise the cost of fees, but don’t begin to trade more just because the charge is low. If you broker has you trading regularly, but not gaining performance, you’re better off buying low-cost index-based funds and holding them for a time.

Commission pays for regular contact

Brokers who are keeping your best interest a top priority will maintain frequent contact. They will connect with their clients in both good and bad times. They will inform you of any necessary changes to the portfolio strategy, or if the firm has a new research report you may be interested in. Most importantly, a good broker will discuss your income and ability to save, along with any long-term goals; at least twice a year. Your broker should also review any plans that are already in motion, such as college savings.

Performance benchmark- Money are you getting enough

As an investor, it’s imperative that you check your portfolio against the performance of fund managers. This helps to ensure your investment performance isn’t falling behind the larger market. This reference point is also to make sure your broker’s performance reflects the average in the industry. If your broker is falling short, ask him or her why. Be an investigator. You are paying good money for their assistance, so make sure you’re getting your money’s worth. Your broker’s job is to make you money- it is your job to make sure you have the best advisor for you.

Our tips for better broking are designed to help you make decisions. However, this is from one person’s perspective, and you should always seek professional financial advice before proceeding with a conclusion.

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Sales Strategy – A defined approach

sales customer client

One of the terrifying worries faced by a salesperson is being viewed as too pushy by a customer. We have all heard stories about how people love to shop for their convenience but hate to buy from a forceful salesperson. Customers hate to be a target. So when you are offering to sell in something, do you have a defined approach to avoid this perception? If not its probably the reason why some salespeople think selling is a hard task and struggle with relating to that customer. When it comes down to it, people like to buy from people. When you can get to a point as a salesperson when your relationship with the customer feels more like a general conversation, as opposed to waiting to rattle off features, you know you are starting to make ground. This approach will certainly have a greater chance of resulting in a sale.

Release the pressure

Let’s face it, selling is a very hard job. Positioning a product or service to a customer creates a lot of pressure, particularly when most businesses tend to focus on immediate sales results. To further add to the stress, you may largely depend on your sales bonus for your livelihood. This stress not only affects your mood but also the way you talk to everyone around you, including customers. The burden in your head influences your ability to communicate, and you tend to make mistakes easily. This can result in delivering an over enthusiastic or even aggressive approach.

Unfortunately, this will cause you to lose more sales opportunities than you win. So what do I do? To sell something, you need to talk to your customer with politeness, slowness, and with sincerity. Your body language should portray the same as what you are saying. Be confident and give logical reasons. Tell them why the offering is beneficial, use plain but vivid language, but don’t preach, particularly about features. Add a little humour; it always helps to lighten the mood.

Wellbeing

Easier said than done when you’re stressed right? True, to help with this there’s loads of information out there for reducing stress, including information on your overall wellbeing. Finding the balance between work and play is key. Some of the things to research and speak to professionals about are meditation, sleep, breathing, fitness, diet, exercise and even recognising the signs that you could be stressed.  See this video and Australian Psychology Society for more information on means to reducing stress and your wellbeing.

Do not rush

One of the most effective ways of selling and not being obnoxious is giving the whole thing a lot of time. The biggest mistake a salesperson can make is to rush through the entire affair without giving it the time it needs. Being hasty can cost you a sale. It’s like asking for dinner two minutes after lunchtime; you have to wait so that the endgame can be more satisfying. It could cause you to appear as if you are desperate for the sale. Keep in mind that your prospect has to be as comfortable as possible. You should create a strategy which would help you to organise your sales interaction. At the bottom of this article, we have given you seven steps to help you formulate a plan.

Let the opportunity guide you

Don’t let the opportunity appear as too good because that will get the customer suspicious. After all, if it’s good, that will shine through in the offer. Making the opportunity seem casual or underrated will allow the client to think that it’s a good deal. Ask the right questions, let them do most of the talking. When the customer starts to feel comfortable around you, they initiate the talking themselves. Once you gain their trust, they tend to fall for what you are selling, and it may not be just about the product or service, it could be just about you. Honesty goes a long way; you can get a lot from advising the client if what you are selling is not suitable for them. You may miss the sale this time, but gain the trust for the customer to come back to you.

Don’t let the product dominate conversations

The best way to get in the heads of the customers is to focus on their problems and concerns instead of letting your product be the boss. Get to know their interests, get to know the person. Find out their pain points and figure out ways to solve them. Relate your experience, examples of similar clients and how you have alleviated those problems. You will have a chance to talk about the product or service and be able to transfer to them all the relevant product details, but the key is not to let the product dominate all of the conversation.

Seven Key Points for Sales Strategy:

1) SALES MAPPING: Even before you walk in the door, you should know what the customers business is about and who’s who in the zoo. Align your resources with the client’s people. What previous deals have transacted, where and how? Understand the complete picture. Some things can often be ruled out straight away without creating a lot of work unnecessarily.
2) INTRODUCTION: It’s key that everyone knows who everyone is, whether it be in a meeting or any interaction.
3) PEOPLE: Introduce, the right people at the right time to the opportunity. It’s crucial you only bring others to back you up at the right time. Someone sitting in a meeting not adding value only makes it awkward for everyone. Too many salespeople bring people along just for the sake of it.
4) KNOW YOUR OFFER: No one expects you to know everything. However, you should be knowledgeable on at least 80% of what you are trying to sell. As soon as you bring in a specialist, it’s saying, ” I don’t know anymore”.
5) AGENDA: Set the agenda including the main point of the communication. Check with the customer to confirm that the agenda will cover what the customer wants to get out of the interaction.
6) DISCOVERY: Remember the 80/20 rule. 80% listening, 20% guided discovery. You may be the expert and can guide them along, but you should never walk out of a meeting, thinking, gee’s I talked a lot then!
7) SOLUTION PITCH: You must address all the key pain points the customer has revealed in your pitch. Play these points back to the client and then relate how the solution benefits them and address each point. Try and steer clear of features and stick to highlighting the actual benefits that relate to them. For example, “this car has a 240kw Efficient Turbo Diesel Engine”, only talking about a feature. Compared to the advantages/benefits of your offer; “this car is powerful enough to tow a large caravan, without showing any strain on the engine. The high-efficiency engine means you can drive between Melbourne and Sydney and back again on one tank of petrol, costing you around $110 in fuel”.

If you follow all these steps, tips and advice you’ll be able to sell to your customers with a greater degree of success than before.

Author: Sales Professional

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