A Day as a Physical Therapy Volunteer :: Community Service, Service Learning

As usual, John is late. Because the other two Physical Therapists (PTs) are busy on their rounds, I just wait, sitting on the therapy tables reading the assorted pamphlets that are available to the patients. Every part of the body is represented in these books on the shelf. A slight humming sound comes from the air conditioner. The freshly waxed tile floor reflects the light that shines from the ceiling tract lights. Since I am a volunteer, the lowest on the totem pole of health care, I have no specific duties. Mainly, I observe the work of the PTs. I also assist in cleaning the immaculate therapy room. As I wash down the tables with ammonia, trying not to inhale too many fumes, a Dr. Riddel is paged over the hospital intercom. Then someone else is paged, "Thomas Lykins to front desk. Thomas Lykins to front desk." Front desk actually means office, and usually social workers are paged to clear up some problem. I also stock the linen closet. Every patient who lies on the big brown therapy table has to be on a sheet with at least 2 or 3 towels nearby. The towels feel rough and course from years and years of reuse. Everything gets the ammonia treatment, including the silver parallel bars, the whirlpool and the giant rubber gym balls that are used with patients who have bad backs. Suddenly, the door swings open and all of the sounds from the nearby emergency room flood into the room. John has returned from his lunch break. He brings a patient to the gym to work on the bars. Hunched in her wheelchair, staring at the ground, her gray hair a mess, she shakes slightly. I think, "Can’t the PTs feel the coldness in this room? Maybe their white lab coats keep them warm." John says, "Paige, this is Mrs. Meyer. She is going to walk the bars today." He asks, "Aren’t you, Mrs. Meyer?" All that Mrs. Meyer can do is mumble "Yes, I hope." Mrs. Meyer had a stroke, her second. John tells me privately so that she can’t hear. She seems to be in a state of confusion about where she is and who we are. John wheels Mrs. Meyer to the silver parallel bars and helps her stand. Slowly talking very quietly, he assures her that he will not let her fall, if she can’t balance herself. I stand behind her, as instructed by John.

Companion Animal Behavior and Training Module

In the case study, a young adult male cat, neutered and aged between four and five years old, undergoes extreme modifications in behavior in response to the birth of a newborn child to the owner-couple. The domestic short-hair lives in a single-cat household and prior to the birth of the first baby and the baby’s subsequently learning to crawl, the cat made appropriate use of 24-hour outside access, toileting outside in an acceptable fashion.Since the baby in the household learnt to crawl, the cat has started unrinating in the upstairs area of the house and squatting in various different locations.The cat also began grooming excessively. Based on this case study information, several determinations can be made about the causal factors relating to the behavioral issues displayed by the cat. For obvious reasons relating to the general health of the household, the cat’s behavior poses several hazards. One principle explanation for the behavior change, however, is the presen ce of the first child and the cat’s perception of the child, now mobile and a perceived presence from the cat’s perspective, as a treat to the cat’s perceived territory in the house.The explanation for the behavioral issues rests upon the fact that cats sometimes undertake urine spraying or urine marking because of territorial disputes, during aggressive conflicts, and even during sexual encounters. The spray produced is pungent and designed to ward off potential predators or competitors. In the case study, the cat clearly fields that the child, crawling and thereby presenting what must be a visible threat to the cat, is a predator or a threat of some general kind to the cat’s domination of the household, his territory.The objective of marking the territory is to establish its boundaries and ward off the child. It is classic cat behavior to advertise their presence in a territory by spraying visually conspicuous sites. Since cats naturally look to â€Å" time share† territories, marks enable the cats to space themselves out and prevent unwanted encounters. Cats can identify the urine marks so track can be kept of their neighbours (Hart, 1980a). Spraying serves to bring the male and female together during the breeding season. It is often done at a height convenient for sniffing (Beaver, 1992).Cats that spray urine inside their homes are classically prevented from doing so by neutering. Since the cat in the case study is already neutered, other measures must be undertake to curb the behavior. Most often, spraying is undertaken by reproductively intact males. Females spray as well, but less rarely. In one study conducted by the ASPCA, 77 percent of cats stopped or significantly reduced spraying within six months. Ten percent of male cats neutered before 10 months of age will still spray as adults. In households with numerous cats, at least one cat will likely spray, even if all the cats are neutered (ASPCA, 2007).Cats can become jealous upon the arrival of a new baby and this is particularly since the presence of a new child leaves the parents, the cat’s owners, exhausted and turmoil of a new baby, the cat is often neglected. This creates and exacerbates resentment about the presence of the child. Of course, it should not be ruled out that medical problems could be the cause of the cat’s unusual behavior. At the very least, this must be investigated as a potential cause. Medical problems such as diarrhea, urinary bladder inflammation, and the condition polydipsia or polyuria may promote unusual behavior from the cat.The signs of these problems include soft to watery diarrhea, which may indicate a problem in the small intestine, or mucus visible in the stool, along with blood, which suggests an inflamed colon or colitis. Urinary bladder infections may include FUS, bacterial infection, calculi or bladder stones, and tumors. Diabetes insipidus, diabetes mellitus, kidney disease, liver disease, ad renal gland disease, pyometra, and hypercalcemia are all possible medical causes for spraying and urinating in the house (ASPCA, 2007).If the baby were not present in the house it would be viable to note that females in heat, male spraying, other cats outdoors, over-crowding indoors, and the possible presence of testicular tissue remaining and producing low level hormones. Overcrowding, unchained litter, interrupted access to liter boxes, a change in litter type, and the presence of objectionable chemicals may be causing the problem. Psychological stress factors such as moving to a new environment or undergoing a change in routine can leave cats of any age bewildered and under considerable psychological stress.Overall, cats are loners and avoid interactions with other cats, except when with a mate, with young, or if several cats belong to the one household. The area traveled during normal activities is known the home range (Beaver, 1992; Bradshaw, 1992; Thorne, 1992). It is much lar ger for males than for females (Bradshaw, 1992) and the range may overlap other animals’ ranges (Thorne, 1992). Studies on free-ranging cats (Fox, 1975), showed that cats have a home territory and a home range that consists of places for resting, sunbathing and watching. A network of paths connects places and people may visit them regularly.Cats have an order of dominance in a neighborhood, which depends on time and place. If a low-ranking cat has already entered a narrow passageway and a high-ranking cat enters, the less dominant animal will sit and wait until the way is clear. Cats go to great lengths to avoid meeting another cat on a pathway, and chance face-to-face encounters lead to fighting and chasing and the development of a dominant–subordinate relationship. Subordinate males are pushed around in a dominant male’s home range. They essentially become nomads (Liberg, 1981, cited in Thorne, 1992).If a group of cats is maintained in colony pens, they need t o be provided with shelves so they can ‘own’ one and retreat there from other cats (Hart, 1980). The cats work out an arrangement where certain ones use the floor at different times to others. Rubbing may help reinforce social positions, with subordinate individuals generally rubbing more dominant conspecifics (Macdonald, Apps, Carr and Kerby, 1987). The socialization period is the time when all primary social bonds are formed and is the most important period during the cat’s life (Beaver, 1992).Active social con tact with more than one adult cat at some crucial development stage is necessary for an adult cat to adapt later to social living conditions (Bradshaw, 1992). Given this, the lack of socialization with a new infant introduced to a household is going to cause problems and, after official confirmation that there are no medical explanations for the cat’s unusual behavior, the likely best response will involve heavy bonding efforts to help the cat ove rcome feelings of displacement, in addition to efforts to help the cat to perceive the baby as a non-threat to its territory.SECTION B: To modify the behavior of the cat in the case study, several steps need to be undertaken to ensure that the cause of the problem is properly assessed and to assure that the problem does become resolved as quickly and as efficiently as possible. The first step in the behavioral modification process will be to identify the reasons that they cat is spraying. Presumably, the new baby is the issue, however, it is necessary as a precautionary measure at least to have the cat subjected to a physical examination by a qualified vet.Physical problems can lead to inappropriate urination and spraying and should at least be ruled out before any psychological issues are investigated. To assess the psychological state of the cats it is quite important to begin by discouraging other cats from hanging around outside the home, if there are any signs that cats are doi ng this. Ideally, one of the various types of commercially available motion-activated devices, such as the Critter Gitterâ„ ¢, the Scarecrowâ„ ¢, or the Scraminalâ„ ¢, serve the function to frighten outdoor cats away.The Scat Matâ„ ¢ and the Sofa Saverâ„ ¢ can be used to keep outdoor cats away from doors and windows if there is evidence that other cats are coming this close to the house (ASPCA, 2007). Although it is not likely that this type of territorial issue is in play in the case study, the cat’s owners would to well to investigate and rule out the possibility. Multiple factors could easily be in play since the cat’s behavior is altered so drastically and since there is evidence that it is only since the new baby began crawling that the cat’s urination and spraying have been a problem.If the cat is spraying in several locations, areas should be made less appealing. Commercially available are such deterrent systems as Ssscatâ„ ¢ may be used and the cat’s owners might also try establishing a different behavioral pattern in the sprayed locations by placing items that stimulate behaviors incompatible with spraying, such as the food dish or toys in the appropriate locations. A litter box may also be placed in each location to try to establish the same change in behavioral pattern. The ultimate treatment objective is to revolve the cat’s sense of insecurity in their home environment.Any form of direct punishment is to be avoided. Punishment simply makes the cat feel more insecure. If the cat has singled out one new person to be the target of marking, as in this case, the baby, it is helpful to have the child present and seeming to participate in the feeding of the cat as a means of establishing trust for the cat. In general cases, it can also be helpful to have family members use the same soaps, shampoos so as to homogenise the group in terms of smells. This stops the cat from singling out one human being for attention.A behavioral modification campaign along these lines can be supported with the use of anxiolytics, tranquilisers, and pheromonatherapy if little or no progress is seen over time. However, these drugs should be given only in combination with behaviour modification and essentially as a last resort, on advisement of a vet. In the case study example, it is highly likely not only that the threat is correctly identified as the new baby and that extra attention given to the cat combined with certain modified methods of feeding, for example, involving the young child, the issues surrounding the urination and spraying should quickly be resolved.REFERENCES. American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals [ASPCA]. 2007. Animal Behavior Center: Cat Behavior. http://www. aspca. org/site/PageServer. Beaver, B. V. 1992. Feline Behavior: A Guide for Veterinarians. W. B. Saunders Company, Sydney. Bradshaw, J. W. S. 1992. The Behavior of the Domestic Cat. C. A. B International UK. Fo x, M. W. 1974. Understanding Your Cat. N. Y. : Coward McCann (London). Fox, M. W. 1975. The behaviour of cats. In: The Behaviour of Domestic Animals.Ed. E. S. E. Hafez. Bailliere Tindall. Hart, B. L. 1980a. Feline behaviour: A practitioner monograph. Vet. Practice Publishing Co. , California. Liberg, O. 1981. Predation and social behaviour in a population of domestic cats: an evolutionary perspective. Ph. D thesis, University of Lund, Sweden. Macdonald, P. W. , Apps, P. J. , Carr, G. M. and Kerby, C. , 1987. Social dynamics, nursing coalitions and infanticide among farm cats, Felis catus Advances in Ethology 24, 1–66Thorne, 1992

After high school Essay

As we get older, more and more problems begin to form. When we reach our teenage years though, it becomes worse. One problem I think the hardest is for young adults is deciding what we want to do for the rest of our lives when we are so young. You can go to college, military or the working field depending on your preference. When we’re in high school, we have to raise our hand and ask to use the restroom, go to the office to make any phone call no matter how important it may be and have ridiculous dress code rules. You are treated like a child from kindergarten all the way up to senior year and yet they expect you to make the most important decision of your life then. One thing that people do straight out of high school is go directly to the work field. Although its normally in most people’s best interest not to, not everyone is made for college. Unless you are extremely lucky, it has been found that people who didn’t advance to other education after high school make 85% less than those with a college diploma. My brother has a roommate in college and his dad dropped out of college after his first year or two and he makes more money than most people will ever see. His wife doesn’t have to work and his kids have it made when it comes to the materialistic things in life. He owns his own real estate company in Pittsburgh and sells and rents houses to people. He does most of his own work so he doesn’t have to pay people to do it, which is very convenient for him. Although most people do not get as lucky as him, that’s okay for some people because money isn’t everything though. Sometimes it’s better to take time off of school instead of wasting all that money when you don’t even know what you are planning on doing for the rest of your life and going straight to college. There are many reasons why people decide to not go to college, not because they just don’t think that they can do it. Sometimes people have kids before they plan, family problems or even they just can’t get help to pay for it so it holds them back from attending. College is an expensive thing that most people don’t want to pay for. You have years of loans to pay back and for a lot of people; they end up miserable at their jobs after a few years. It is also very hard to get help to pay for you college education. When my cousin tried getting help for college, because she had a full time job and no kids she could get barely any money even though she wasn’t getting any help from her parents. If college still isn’t the right thing for you but you don’t want McDonalds to be your only  definite in for a job, the military is a great option. Although you have to work your butt off for it, the military gives awesome benefits. Of course it’s nothing that the NBA players make, which is ridiculous, but it is still a lot just for being in the military. A player in the NBA averages about $5.15 million per year and all the do is dribble and shoot a basketball for a living where people in the military have to work their tails off every single day to fight for our country and they only get about $70 thousand per year. There is a lot of schooling that they will pay for you so you can still get an education while being in the military. Not only will you get your schooling paid for, but also you can even get paid for going. Also, they have programs like ROTC where you can still train for the military but you are in an actual college getting your education. As well as getting your education paid for, you also get free medical care, financial security and you can retire around 20 years before other people do. If you get all of that stuff paid for, is there even anything left to buy? Food and housing. No worries, in the Army, you receive a regular paycheck and free housing including meals. If you live off of base, you will still receive a housing allowance. Even if the amount of free meals and the checks don’t cover all of the food you want, some restaurants and grocery stores offer military discounts, which will also save a lot of money. My dad owns houses and rent them out to people and the first thing he looks at is what kind of job they have to make sure they can keep up with rent. Last summer there was a guy from the Army that tried to rent of my dad and he told him that the monthly paying isn’t going to be a big deal because he gets checks from the Army specifically for his housing so it is totally free for him. Although college isn’t everyone’s best option, I believe it’s more worth it than working forever at a job that barely gets you by. Colleges can really help you out when you aren’t exactly sure what you want to do. Some even make you take a full year of general education classes just so you are sure that you want to be in that major. Nobody should waste thousands of dollars just to change their mind like 50-70% of college kids end up doing. Also, most colleges have classes that help you transition from high school to college and help get good study habits and things like that. For most kids, what they do for the school like sports, music, theatre and clubs is the most important part of high school. Proceeding to college gives you the opportunity to further  your career in things like that where there are plenty of sports, clubs, different bands and also sororities and fraternities. Although that would be going to college for the wrong reasons, a college education in general expands your knowledge base, makes you more organized and exposes you to a whole new world of learning. There are also so many different types of colleges though. Depending on your preference, you can go to school for a few months or 12 years. There are community colleges, tech schools, four-year schools and also schools that are totally based on what you want to do. At the four-year schools, you have to take a certain amount of general education courses where as a college with a certain amount of month program, all of your classes are dedicated for your major. Every school that you go to has a variety of majors to choose from which also make the college option hard. There are some things that people will never even hear of until they go to college and even then, there are thousands of jobs you can do with most majors that people will probably never even know throughout their entire life. A lot of people don’t realize that a really big benefit of going to both college and the military is the life long friends that you make. Of course you’ll always have your friends from high school, but college and the military both give you the opportunity to start over and make new friends. As you can see, there are benefits to every option you decide to do when you graduate high school. There are also a lot of cons to the option that you decide. It all depends on the person and what they are like. It’s just a very hard decision to make when you are barely old enough to stay outside past 11pm. We are very uneducated about the all the different majors in college and the benefits of or other options if we decided to not go to college. We have only lived about a quarter of our life and we are expected to decide what we want to do for three more quarters of our life. This decision is the one that is going to affect you for the rest of your life and I just don’t think that we are educated enough to make it.

Sins of the Father essays

Sins of the Father essays This film is based on the true story of a relationship between Tom Cherry and his father Bobby Frank Cherry, who was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Bobby Cherry was charged for being apart in one of the most biggest crimes in US history. This horrible tragedy happened in1963, the bombing of the Baptist Church in Birmingham that killed four young girls: Denise McNair, Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley. This film impressively recreated this event and put you in the perspective of some of the people who lived through this. It was filled with a lot of flashbacks from Toms perspective as well showing some of the things that people had to deal with at that time. The most impressive thing on the film was how at first you dont really know what is going on and why, but once you see all the flashbacks Tom thinks about you piece it all The character that impressed me most was Tom Cherry. Tom grew up living with his family and trying to make his father proud. When Tom had to do something bad in order to gain his fathers approval, you would see him hesitate at first knowing what hes is bad but still does it anyway. Such a situation happened when Tom, his brother Bobby jr. and their father were walking down a street and bump into a black man. The black man recognized that the father was from the KKK and started a fight with the father. The father took this metal rod that the black man was holding and whacked him on the head. While the black man was on the ground bleeding, the father gave Tom the rod so he could whack him. At first you see Tom hesitate knowing that it wasnt the right thing to do, but under the pressure of his father watching him he goes and whacks the black man anyway. This is when you first see that Tom really is a good person, he only does bad ...

Implementation of Electronic Medical Records

Implementation of Electronic Medical Records Introduction Information technology has recently become one of the most reliable technologies in efficient service delivery. Implementation of the system within health sector is viewed as a move in reducing medical errors, hence promoting patient safety as well as reducing costs. However, implementation of the new models requires variety of measurable elements capable of creating an impact on patient safety initiatives (Borkowski, 2009). Proposal on Implementation of EMR Electronic Medical Records are associated with many functions within the health care system. Patient health records contain important information, such as patient health care, financial breakdown, legal information as well as detailed research and quality improvement cases. Such information is always necessary within the medical field, hence it needs to be shared amongst many professional medics within the health care field. Such demand makes it a little cumbersome to use paper health records calling for the development of an automated health recording system. Electronic Medical Record will provide chances for improving quality of care and patient safety within health organizations. The system will help in providing solution to the challenge of dealing with integrated healthcare delivery by providing detailed, reliable and accessible timely information on patient health status across the medical field whether in primary or secondary health care. The EMR will reduce the costs on keeping paper records as well as decreasing inefficiencies within health care sector. The EMR has got increased storage capabilities enabling data to be stored from any region and for longer periods of time, enabling instant retrieval of information to many people even in remote sites (Young, 200, p 99). The idea on fragmentation of clinical records posed by paper records will be minimized hence reducing costs, which could have been otherwise incurred on current and future patient care (Schloeffel, 2001, p 1). The built-in intelligence capabilities of the EMR system will assist in recognizing abnormal laboratory results. The system provides efficient access to protocols, care plans, critical paths and other databases on healthcare knowledge such as pharmaceutical information (Borkowski, 2009). Start-up costs might be of disadvantage to many since it can be excessive at times. Allocation of capital to information system provides added costs on health care expenditure. Another disadvantage is that it requires substantial technical knowledge for the system to be used efficiently. This calls for all the physicians and clinicians to have prior knowledge on the system operation for purposes of realizing benefits of interactive on-line decision support (Borkowski, 2009). Proposal on Implementation of CPOE Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) presents one of the point-of-care products which will help in playing the key role in dealing with the cases concerning patient safety objectives. The system involves electronic communication of orders as well as detailed protocol for checking against drug references and other medical information. CPOE is physician-focused and will help in the issues of developing fewer medication transcription as well as order errors. The tool will help most physicians in selecting correct medication and therapies for each patient. The equipment’s ability to customize ordering processes will assist in easy identification of physician needs and most importantly allow for prevention of problem occurrence by counter checking errors before completion of any order. The tracking system involved in this technology will help clinicians and physicians to evaluate their actions and compare to those of their peers in addition to comparing treatment recommendations within the given standards and guidelines (Borkowski, 2009). However, the CPOE may not be effective on its own until it is integrated together with other crucial clinical information systems. Another disadvantage is that there is still possibility of incurring errors within the system owing to the natural assumption that computers are always right. There are also multiple steps involved in operating multiple screens required for completion of order signing. This proves to be time-consuming when used by many people is at the same time. Frequent computer access might not be possible, especially in cases where only few computer stations are available in spite of many users (Borkowski, 2009). Changes within organizations normally occur either as planned or unplanned. Planned changes are known to arise from either single or series of changes linked to organization goals and objectives. While unplanned changes normally arise as a result of the unexpected uncertainties within the organization. Various changes are required for the purposes of incorporating the modern computerized equipment with the work environment. The change undergoes three environmental stages including; societal environment, task environment then finally internal environment. Within the societal environment, EMR technology will have to be approved by the legal authorities within the government by looking at its technological and economical impacts within the health sector (Borkowski, 2009). Technologically the equipment has the capability of speeding up the recording on individual health matters as well as ability to store large amount of data and sharing it over wide area within the shortest time possible. It saves on costs since it makes health records available within reach of medical practitioners and patients. The socio-cultural forces which tend to oppose the nature of the records in exposing patients medical records to the public would be dealt with by promising confidentiality to the patients’ medical information through the use of specified passwords. Only the patients and trusted medics would be allowed to use the specified password whenever they want to access the patient’s medical information for the purposes of further treatment. Legal acts like the HIPAA would be enforced to ensure that tough measures, including fines are imposed on those trying to misuse individual’s medical records discriminatorily. In some places, employers use medical records to discriminate individuals on employment opportunities (Borkowski, 2009). The task environment includes several players such as employees, special interest groups, competitors, customers amongst others. Dealing with competitors will call for marketing the superior abilities and qualities of the technology. Employees would be placed on thorough training on how to use the equipment confidentially without loosing on the confidence of the patients concerning their medical records. Suppliers would be endowed with the task of working with computer specialists for the purposes of EMR installations. Internal forces related to the structures, processes as well as resources within the organizations which at times lead to low profit margins could be addressed by ensuring the efficiency of the equipment through delivery. This could save on costs required for the storage of large amount of documents; the technology would as well confine all medical data to one source making it easier for services to be delivered without fragmented processes (Borkowski, 2009). Some of the challenges involved include such cases as lack of autonomy, especially in the process when patient’s data is shared amongst health care providers without informing the patient. The exposure of patient’s data does not guarantee fidelity in any way since it can be stolen by unknown parties. This could easily lead to compromised treatment within the society since patients may be overwhelmed by fear of exposure. Conflicts arise within the medical ethical principles concerning safety of patient health records. There is a breach on confidentiality and right to privacy on the side of the patients. Hence patients can easily be discriminated within the market place as mentioned earlier in the article (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1998). Computer-based Electronic Health Records presents one of the technological advances within health care system. Such technology is of great benefit in health sector since it has helped in improving the level of access and quality at affordable costs. On the same note, computerized system will help in providing accurate information on billing hence allowing medics to forward any payment claims electronically. This would ensure timely and efficient payment to health care providers. It would save the patient hectic time, which might arise in providing information over and over whenever they seek medical attention (Lohr, 2007). The use of computerized medical systems enables improvement on the quality of care provided and also guarantees reduction in medical errors. There is improvement in the level of efficiency and reduction in medical costs since the methods enable easy coordination between health care providers on patient’s care. The system would enable smooth transfer of information, eliminating the possibilities which had earlier been experienced in duplication of health information by the third parties (Hartzband and Groopman, 2008). References Borkowski, Nancy. (2009). Organizational Behavior, Theory, and Design in Health Care. NY: Jones Bartlett Ppublishers. Hartzband, P. Groopman, J. (2008). Avoiding the Pitfalls of Going Electronic? New England Journal of Medicine, (358), 1656-1658. Lohr, S. (2007, June 11). Risks and Rewards; Who Pays for Efficiency. New York Times. Web. Schloeffel, P. (2001). Background and Overview of the Good Electronic Health Record. Retrieved from gehr.org/ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1998). Security and Electronic Signature Standards; Proposed Rule. The Federal Register, 45 (142). Young, K. M. (2000). Informatics for Healthcare Professionals. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis.

Instagram Marketing Strategy How to Build One the Best Way (Template)

Instagram Marketing Strategy How to Build One the Best Way (Template) Instagram has the potential to be a powerful part of your brands overall marketing plan. However, you can’t just post, sit back, and wait for success to happen by magic. You need to create an Instagram marketing strategy that establishes your goals (and lays out a game plan to achieve them). That involves everything from finding your target audience, to outlining a clear content strategy for the platform, to actually creating posts and measuring their performance. Read on to learn how to plan it all effectively. You might want to get some coffee now, because we have a lot of ground to cover. Grab Your Free Instagram Marketing Strategy Template Planning an effective strategy doesnt have to take a lot of time. Download this editable deck and complete it as you read. By the time you’re done, you’ll have a full strategy ready to present to your team. Pretty slick, right?Instagram Marketing Strategy: How To Build One The Best Way (Free Template)Did You Know You Can Schedule Instagram Posts In ? It’s true! Using the mobile app (available for iOS  and Android), you can create and schedule Instagram posts alongside all your other social media content. Check out this live demo recap to see how it works: Then, try it yourself free for 14 days. We think you’ll be impressed. How Can Brands Benefit From Instagram? Instagram is an incredibly popular platform with a large user base and high engagement rates. In fact, according to the PEW Research Center  as of 2016, 33% of adults on the internet are on Instagram. And according to TechCrunch, as of April 2017, Instagram has over 700 million active users. In other words, you have a big audience to reach. That audience is active, too. Over half of Instagram’s user base logs into the app daily according to the same PEW research study. Over half of Instagram's user base logs into the app daily.While Instagram is particularly popular with Millennials (about 59% of its overall user base as of 2016), 33% of its userbase is between the ages of 30-44, and 18% between 50-64. So if your target audience is above the age of 50, Instagram may not be your best platform option. However, if your target audience is younger, Instagram could be a goldmine for your brand. Recommended Reading: How to Get Way More Instagram Followers With 20 Easy Tactics Step One: Set Your Goals The first step in creating your Instagram strategy is to set overarching business goals and select metrics to track progress toward them. Start by setting goals for your business. These goals are what help keep the lights on and the company up and running. Examples of business goals could include: Increasing Brand Awareness: How many people know your business exists? Encouraging Customer Loyalty: What keeps people coming back to you (instead of your competition)? Driving More Revenue: Businesses need money, right? Some example business goals that your team could create are: "Increase brand audience by 55% by end of the year." "Increase sales of x product by 35% by the end of Q1." The next step in your goal setting process is selecting metrics to track. Some metrics we could select for the goal above might include: Follower growth. Are people finding you and following your profile? Post engagement rate. From there, are they actually engaging with your posts? Leads generated from profile link clicks. Finally, are they taking the next step and trying your products or services? The key is select Instagram marketing metrics that directly tie back into overall business goals. Your Instagram goals also need to be S.M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely). So let’s break down an example: â€Å"We want to increase our Instagram engagement rate by 25% this quarter.† Here's how this goal fits into the SMART framework: S: It’s specific in the fact that your team knows what needs to be accomplished. M: The 50% is a numerical measurement which can be calculated based . You know immediately if the goal was met or not. A: Depending on your current engagement rate growth, your team will need to assess if 25% is   a realistic goal. For example, if you are already experiencing a 17% growth rate 25% is not necessarily out of range. R: Growing your engagement rate on Instagram makes sense because the more your fans engage with your content, the more likely they are to remember you. T: You have a set deadline (one quarter)  to complete your goal. Recommended Reading: How to Set Social Media Goals to Crush Your Business Objectives Once you have a series of social media goals set you can then look to your Instagram strategy to see how the channel can help you accomplish your goals. For the sake of this post, we’re going to pretend we’re a local bookstore called ’s Corner. Three smart goals that our marketing team created are: Increase the number of younger people following us on Instagram by 50% in 6 months. Increase the brand awareness of our store in the area in 3 months by 25%. Increase engagement by 50% on each photo that we post. How can Instagram help your team accomplish those goals? The first one is simple. Instagram has a high number of young people in its user base. Therefore it would make sense that your team utilizes that channel to reach a younger audience. To prove the strategy is working you can check the in app analytics or Google Analytics and pull demographical data for your Instagram channel. The second goal requires a bit more strategy and analysis. Brand awareness  can come in many forms, and there are many different tools like Google Analytics, Brandwatch  and more that can be used to track that growth. The final goal is quite easy to connect to Instagram due to its nature of being an incredibly visual platform  and highly engaging platform. But how can you calculate the engagement rate of each of your Instagram posts. The formula is: So if your team has 157 comments and likes on one photo, you would divide that number by your total current followers and multiply by 100. (100 likes + 57 comments) / 2569 followers x 100 = 6.11% engagement rate. Recommended Reading: How to Improve Your Instagram Engagement With 15 Tips Step Two: Find Your Audience On Instagram The next part of your Instagram marketing strategy will be to find your audience. Finding your audience is a key part of your strategy because without knowing who your content is targeting you end up throwing it into the massive pile of Instagram posts with no direction to get it out. How do you find your audience? First,  you need to find the demographic data from the audience you are currently attracting. This will help your team determine if Instagram is the right channel for your target audience. If you’re on Instagram, open your app and click the analytics bar graph in the upper right-hand corner: Scroll through the in app analytics until you find followers: Click on See More to see a full breakdown of the age range of your audience: If your Instagram is pulling in the age range of your target audience it would make sense to maximize your resources on the channel. If not, Instagram could be a secondary awareness channel for your team. Once you know whether or not your target audience is utilizing Instagram, you can begin to tailor your content based on what your audience is interacting the most with. It could be content centered around: Problems they are experiencing. People are turning to your company for answers to issues that are surfacing in their daily lives, whether they’re looking for a plumber to fix a clogged drain or a dress to wear for their next event. Center your content around ways that you can help solve those problems. Information they're seeking. Maybe they need to know about the best type of chew toy for a new puppy, so your content could feature different chew toys with captions on what age and breed would enjoy them the most. Company culture and recruiting. People love seeing what’s going on behind the scenes at your office. Not only does it help humanize your brand, it can also help recruit new team members. Recommended Reading: How to Find Your Target Audience And Create the Best Content That Connects Step Three: Optimize Your Profile The way you create your company profile on Instagram plays a significant role in your success on the social media site. There are three main pieces on your profile that need to be 100% completed otherwise, you’re going to miss out connecting with potential customers. Those pieces are: An Instagram Business account. A profile picture. A snappy bio. Make Sure You Have A Business Account You may notice that your standard Instagram account doesn’t have a space for links. That’s because website links and analytics features are only accessible if your Instagram is operating under a business account. Setting your business account up is easy (and free). Log into your company profile and click on settings: Scroll until you find Switch to Business Profile: Toggle that switch to on, and Instagram will walk you through how to create your business profile. Once your account is set you should see business settings in your profile: Optimal-sized profile picture The standard profile picture on Instagram is 110px by 110px. It’s also important to note that Instagram’s profile pictures are round and usually quite small, so the less detail you can include in your profile picture the better. Many companies stick to using their logo like this: Optimize Your Bio The second step in optimizing your Instagram profile involves creating a short and snappy bio that encompasses who you are as a company in 150 characters or less. Some tips to help your team craft that bio are utilizing your tagline  (those are already short), pulling three descriptive adjectives that encompass your company or shortening your mission statement down to a sentence. Check out how Nike got their bio down to three simple words: So how do you create a really awesome snappy bio? Start with the following fill in the blank exercise: _[Company]_ is [adjective], [adjective], and driven to provide [issue your company solves or service your company provides]. Filled out it would look like: Corner  is a local, creative bookstore that is driven to provide a welcoming environment that fosters a love of reading for all ages. (Note: Corner is not an actual bookstore, but that would be cool if it was!) The final character count is 142. Now let’s say that you’re over in count, how can you fix it? Cut out your company name, they can already see it in your username: A local, creative bookstore that is driven to provide a welcoming environment that fosters a love of reading for all ages. Still over? Cut as much fluff out as possible. Words like â€Å"that† can almost always be cut out: A local, creative bookstore, driven to provide a welcoming environment fostering  a love of reading for all ages. Once you’ve edited out the fluff, your bio is ready to go. Recommended Reading: How to Increase Visibility With Social Media Optimization Include A Link To Your Website It’s important to note that Instagram does not allow links in posts, so the only chance your fans will have to see your site is if it’s included in your bio. You can change up the link based on what types of content you’re posting and what you want to drive your fans to: Step Four: Find Your Voice And Tone Instagram is prime space to show off your brand’s voice and tone. Why? Because Instagram is a personal platform which means the more that you can bring your company’s personality into the better. But how do you develop your voice and tone? Voice is the overall sound and personality of your business. It encompasses who you are as a brand and allows your audience to establish a connection with you. How can you develop your voice? List three adjectives and then find its opposite counterpart like this: Intelligent but not cocky. Humorous but not silly. Professional but not stuffy. Check out this list to help you get started: Mailchimp’s voice and tone  brand guidelines are a great example of how to format your voice adjectives. So you covered voice, but what about tone? Tone is the inflection of your voice, which details how you say something. Think of it almost like subtext. Your tone will change depending on the situation. So what does a solid Instagram voice and tone sound like? Starbucks Starbucks is known for its friendly, conversational language. They’re also great at integrating emojis and hashtags into their content as well: When your coffee matches your city. #IcedCaramelMacchiato Regram: @yogafawzi A post shared by Starbucks Coffee (@starbucks) on Aug 4, 2017 at 9:16am PDT Barnes and Noble Barnes and Noble works hard to foster a love of books through positive language and inspiring imagery: Best. Year. Ever. Get ready for the new school year with fun supplies, book bags more must-haves! in bio A post shared by Barnes Noble (@barnesandnoble) on Aug 21, 2017 at 1:39pm PDT Lowe’s Home Improvement Lowe’s Instagram focuses on DIY home improvements which means their voice and tone is usually helpful and insightful: @ourhappycarmonhome gave an old dining buffet new life with a fresh coat of paint. Let's see your creative storage solutions using #lowesproject. A post shared by Lowe's Home Improvement (@loweshomeimprovement) on Aug 23, 2017 at 8:27am PDT

Chinese Architecture The Forbidden City and Spatial Hierarchies Essay

Chinese Architecture The Forbidden City and Spatial Hierarchies - Essay Example x† was put up with enormous spacing with various sections as described by the purpose for which it was supposed to serve (Ching, Jarzombek, and Prakash 17). MacFarquhar explains that the city took up to fifteen years to construct (33). It is made of 800 buildings with 9000 rooms, which serve various purposes. Generally it is known to be the world’s largest palace with fine architectural knowledge applied. The Qing and Ming dynasties did exist along with the Chinese civilization as evident in the palace. Urban planning in the Chinese construction is highly evident by the manner in which the buildings are spatially distributed. Various ethnic cultures were represented inside the palace, including the religions that existed in China. Hence, it was entirely an integration of diversities in building techniques and designs. The commencement of the construction followed an order from the Ming dynasty. There are 114 buildings in the palace of the Qing Dynasty which is a typical indicator of the last ruling dynasty in China just prior to the expansion of power to the middle of China. The middle axis architectural design was made so as to support the emperor’s political issues (Knapp 44). The architectural techniques used in the Forbidden City gives a reflection of the global view of the Chinese architects. This is made clear by the manner in which the buildings are arranged and carried to other parts of China and beyond. Knapp explores the composition of the city including the southern inner city and the outer city situated in the south (23). There are gates which usher in the next step of progression as one gets into the city. There is a central axis and a symmetrical design having the inner court at the rear while the outer court in the front. There is an additional landscape courtyard that originates from the layout of Yuan He City. This is purely a distinctly classified construction technique that dictated the manner of constructing of the subsequent