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In New York, one in seven persons who use drugs is living with HIV. 30% to 40% of these these users still share needles, leading to an increased exposure to HIV. In sub-Saharan Africa, one-third of all new HIV infections happen to people using injection-drug.
The link here? Repressive law enforcement activities by United States, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, among others. Nations with the most aggressive drug policies report terrifying infection rates amongst people who use drugs.
In fear of recrimination, they are prevented from seeking clean needles. When infected, they are further driven away from available health services and treatments and are instead increasingly mired in unsafe practices that increase the risk of infection. Such a vicious cycle makes HIV more prevalent than it should be in even the most developed countries and in certain regions.
Instead of criminalising drug users, the focus should move towards prevention and treatment. Government should encourage people who use drugs - as well as others who are at risk - to come forward for treatment. Such measure are proven to be far economical than to reinstate policies that aim to threaten those faced with drug addiction.
Concerted effort should be made to advocate AIDS prevention message. As the sayings goes, “prevention is better than cure”, resources used to criminalise people who use drugs can be better placed towards community education and outreach programme.
In place of fear, the voice of authority should be sown with empathy, support and positivity. Everyone has a right to health, even people who use drugs. The ongoing war on drugs deters us further to truly put an end to AIDS and therefore shall be put to an end, too.
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Organizing a party? No special occasion should be without a fruit arrangement from Edible Arrangements Hong Kong. Why? Because of two simple reasons.
First, Edible Arrangements fruit bouquets are made with fresh, high quality fruits, as well as love and care. The Edible Arrangements staff always make sure that each colorful creation is made with utmost care. The highly trained fruit stylists do everything to guarantee only healthy and delicious fruit bouquets arrive at your doorstep.
Take this Orange Blossom Dipped Strawberries and Bananas fruitquet for example. Not only does it have the freshest fruit and luscious chocolates available, but it’s also beautifully assembled. It’s sure to be a big hit at your next event - regardless of the occasion.
So why don’t you visit one of Edible Arrangements Hong Kong’s many locations and make any occasion extra special with a fruit bouquet? Take our word for it - it’ll be a surefire hit!
Writing for social media is a tricky business. So much effort is put into turning an exciting phrase or sexing up a boring topic. To be really effective at social media writing, it is important to look deeper than the words you choose. Humans take in and process information in predictable ways. Understanding the psychology of memory, recognition, and retention are great tools to significantly increase the effectiveness of your message writing. You can still be fun and sexy, but now you can be smart too. Some simple rules to keep in mind when writing:
- seven words
- first and last are the most remembered words
- familiar or emotionally loaded words work best
Seven words:
Human beings have a short-term working memory. At most, it can hold seven words. For me it is much less, but I am over 50 years old, ha ha. Keeping this in mind, the next time you are tempted to write a novel on Facebook remember that the average person will only see or remember seven words at most. It is important to make those seven words count. The more words you use, the less likely any of them will register or be remembered. More work = less reward.
First and Last:
When reading a sentence the first words and last words are remembered most. The end words are remembered the best. So if you have seven words to communicate the message to your fans, it is good to prioritise. The words you place at the beginning and end are the most important.
Familiar and emotional:
Put away the thesaurus! People scan messages and words that are familiar or have high emotional value register best. Keep it simple silly (KISS) for sexcess. What did you see in that last sentence????
Here is fun list of memory games I found. Play around with them and your message writing. Practice makes perfect.
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chmemory.html
Much success,
Doug
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Kim Robinson, celebrity hair stylist and owner of kimrobinson Studio in Hong Kong, uses and endorses the Elchim 5000 Da Vinci Ionic hairdryer in his salon. The Elchim 5000 Da Vinci Ionic hairdryer produces high density ions that neutralize unpurified hair to leave it healthier, stronger, and looking smooth and shiny. The Elchim 5000 Da Vinci Ionic hairdryer also reduces drying time by 50% through its negative ion generating system and continuous air flow. The improved design allows for a more contoured sharp to make styling easier and more efficient.
kimrobinson Studio in Hong Kong, an acclaimed one-stop service salon for beauty and glamour, understands that beautiful hair is hair that is healthy, strong, shiny, smooth, and silky to touch. kimrobinson Studio also understands that today’s modern woman is busy with work and social commitments. The Elchim 5000 Da Vinci Ionic hairdryer is the perfect tool to ensure that each client’s hair looks its absolute best in as little time as possible so that clients can get back to their busy lives looking gorgeous and confident.
The kimrobinson Studio stylists work hard with customers to develop a unique hair style that brings out each individual’s inner beauty. With the Elchim 5000 Da Vinci Ionic hairdryer, kimrobinson Studio in Hong Kong continues their tradition of providing women with the very best in beauty.
Learn more about Kim Robinson and his studio at:
http://www.kimrobinson.com/
Or ‘Like’ him on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/thisway2beauty
Follow him on Twitter
https://twitter.com/thisway2beauty
And on Sina Weibo
http://t.sina.com.cn/kimrobinson
If you are reading this blog post, then you are experiencing the powerful engagement this blog has with you, the reader. PRDA Asia firmly believes in the benefits blogging can bring to your business; be it in reaching new customers, being more visible online, and getting new sales.
Are you still not convinced? Consider these benefits of business blogging.
By blogging you are cementing your reputation as an expert in your field. Through your blog, you can showcase your expertise, experience, and knowledge in your industry and subject matter.
Having a reputation as an industry expert if is especially important in a competitive field. A business blog done well can set you apart from other similar products and services. By blogging on the competencies of your business, you demonstrate the value of what you do compared to your competitors.
Regular content populated on your blog is highly favored by search engines of all kind, including the “Holy Trinity” of Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. With careful exercise of keywords and post titles, your website will rank better in search engine results, driving more new traffic to you, which you can then convert to leads and sales.
Those who have read your blog have a real opportunity to interact with you by leaving comments, liking your post, and sharing it with others. These readers can be your customers, prospects, partners, and suppliers - which is certainly a gold mine!
Over time your blog will start to generate you real, actionable sales leads. With new visitors, better search engine ranking, and clearly demonstrated value, your blogging efforts can the most important sales tool you can possess.
With your blog, you can show exactly how your products and services can solve your customer's issues. Instead of hard selling and interruption marketing, you create better relationships with your potential customers, which can proven to have a better ROI.
Blogging for your business can be the wisest decision and investment you can make today. The real work starts right now - blog away!
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With 1,139 specialty stores around the world, there’s no doubt that Edible Arrangements is a hit among customers who not only love beautifully presented fresh fruit, but also those who value top notch customer service.
The fruits, chocolates, and other ingredients and materials used for the stunning fruit bouquets will always be fresh and of top quality.
And of course, Edible Arrangements Hong Kong aims to provide only the best customer service. By keeping their stores open 7 days a week, offering same day delivery, and answering inquiries and orders promptly, Edible Arrangements shows just how much customers are treated as kings and queens - as they should be.
Tone of Voice (TOV) is an old concept for Brands. PR releases, marketing and advertising campaigns follow strict brand and communication guidelines to ensure consistent presentation to the public. Additionally, with social media, TOV has taken on a higher level of importance. The luxury of pre-conceived topics spoon fed to journalists who are expected to reply days, weeks or months later are gone. Fans now voice their opinion on whatever topic they choose and expect Brands to respond in real time. This is an odd concept for me as I have always rejected the diffusion of responsibility within a faceless company in favour of having one person respond. But today’s social media, like Dr. Frankenstein gave to his monster, has given life to the Brand.
Important guidelines for TOV:
- Corporate culture and brand story should be clearly reflected in TOV
- Fans’ and customers’ way of communicating (use of language, education level, local phrasing) must be considered so the TOV “fits in” with the conversation
- Be consistent -- TOV must be documented with guidelines. Inconsistent responses make fans uncomfortable, much like having an acquaintance with mood swings is not fun
- Multiple TOV’s for a brand are acceptable provided they follow guidelines and have purpose. Example:
- Daily engagement - follow language use of fans, be friendly and engaging
- Corporate B2B - formal and structured, response is concise using the grown up voice
- Customer service - empathy and informative, provide direction for solutions
Note for SME’s
Most businesses in the world are small businesses. The TOV on social media usually reflects the business owner and is often managed by them. Please note that we all have good days and bad days, but the message that you post on social media must always reflect your “good days”. When you post on social media, all the world can see and there is no taking it back.
Much success,
Doug
Visit us online: http://www.prda.asia/
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Writing for social media is one of the most demanding of skills. Many assume it is a simple task of writing something clever or funny. If done well it is a complex combination of skills that must come together with concise precision to capture the attention of a reader, communicate value to hold attention and direction to motivate a call to action. This blog is a first in series that will cover important facts about being a good social media writer that will likely touch on:
- Brand story and TOV
- Key word optimisation - SEM and semantic search
- Formatting and length appropriate for different channels
- Psychology of anterior and posterior memory
- Psychology of pattern recognition
- Visuals and their impact on engagement
- Message consistency (write once post many)
First lesson in social media writing is the most difficult for most to embrace: You are not writing for yourself. So simple yet for most an impossible hurdle to overcome. It is important to separate yourself from the Brand. The Brand, next to your fans, is the most important asset. The messages should be consistent with the Tone of Voice (TOV) of the brand and adhere to the Brand story. If you write to please yourself -- get a diary! Success is when a Brand communicates well with its fans and the fans respond positively.
Second lesson is that the message writing is not the objective of social media. Most assume that writing clever messages is the primary objective of good social media. It is not. The goal is to target increase brand visibility, provide positive information, reputation management, building fan loyalty, increasing Brand value and converting to sales. Social media messages play a role in accomplishing this, but it is far from the end game.
PRDA has managed hundreds Brands on social media. We have used this experience to develop a proven strategy for social media management.
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