Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: digital

  • Visible

    Visible

    The reality of doing business in this modern age is all about technology, how to use it and how to make it work to attract customers to your business, regardless of whether you are a small one-man band or a huge Corporation.

    On-line marketing is the name of the game and has become a very powerful tool, used wisely and used to effect. But how best to go about harnessing the best of Facebook, Twitter, or whatever the social platform/s of your choice is something which is often misunderstood, made far too complex or time consuming, therefor not being used to full effect.

    Nicola Moras is an expert in building a powerful online presence, which over the past 12 years has led to a healthy, wealthy career in financial services. She decided that she needed to branch out to help people and companies get the very best out of their digital and social media marketing and in so, doing shares her wealth of knowledge in Visible.

    In Visible, she considers all aspects of modern digital marketing and treats this book as a workshop, requiring input from the reader, the business person, who truly wants to succeed in the modern, frenetic world of business.

    Using her many years of experience, Nicola Moras begins with the familiar feeling of panic experienced by people trying to come to terms with the best way to market their product or service online, the avoidance tactics used when you know your online presence is calling you to post something, but what!

    Moras helps, in her words, to ‘build a bridge’ across the barriers, real or perceived, to understand why you need to be a visible presence and what exactly you need to do to make this a happen in a positive and lucrative way.

    Perhaps the best place to start this learning curve into the world of social media and business is on page 150 where she has created the Express Review which tells it like it is in a simple format, and then begin at the beginning to make these very salient points become the accepted norm for you and your future business success. Express Review could also be used as a goal setting exercise or your personal mantra to success.

    The mantra is right throughout the book, put in the hard yards, do the activities as they are presented in the workbook, set a sensible target to achieve something positive every day towards building your business and getting a serious return on your efforts. As Nicola Moras says, you are the one who is awesome, you are the one who can drive the business and only you can meet the challenges and make the changes that are required to be at the front of your particular marketplace.

  • Raising Your Child in a Digital World

    Raising Your Child in a Digital World

      How to raise your child in a digital world is one of the most posed questions I hear from my own family and other concerned parents and grandparents. Dr Goodwin has responded to an area of great concern with this book which covers many areas with a low key common sense approach. She reveals the astonishing figures that suggest our children aged between 0-8 years are spending nearly 2 hours a day watching screen media. Older children, aged between 8-18 are watching over 7 hours of screen media per day. The author has given us a recommended table of times for children to use digital media.

     The Doctor then explains the child’s brain function and how neural connectors are formed at an early age. These develop through experiences with the surrounding environment. Some of the ways in which technology can enhance young children’s learning, are by, “Catering to visual preferences, Compensating for emerging skills, and Providing instant access to information,” therefor the parent needs to be aware there are benefits to digital learning, but also needs to understand children’s development to be able to implement the safe amount and type of viewing for that age.

     Sleep is another aspect of this book that is looked at closely. There are considerations, such as falling asleep with a device on and how that impacts on the quality of sleep. Reading e-books before bed is again a matter of careful selection. The screen should be dim, with less blue light exposure and the distance between the child and the device should be greater. Sleep patterns and needs are discussed carefully and it is stressed that good sleep patterns need to develop at this time.

     Children’s play is a hugely important part of social life and development. So time needs to be managed between types of play and selected devices. Educational video games provide good stimulus for learning and add value to learning. But playing with toys, or games with friends, is a learning experience that will hold the child in good stead for life. Within this balance, the games they play need to be carefully selected. For example, the app about the human body, and the app from the South Pole, (Directly linking Father Christmas), are both valuable and informative for a child to use. Developing close relationships with family needs time, so meal times become an important gathering.

     Another helpful aspect of this book is the topic on older children’s addictions. Many countries consider the addiction to be a major health threat. It seems that research shows that children feel more powerful, respected and valued by others, while using their screen media. The author has suggested a variety of strategies to help wean these children off the treadmill they have chosen and to cut back on time spent on devices. She also suggests that the bedroom be a media free zone.

     In this new age, all parents, careers and grandparents, need to understand the effects of digital media on the child’s growth and development. This is an easy to read, informative book that should be in every home and Kindergarten.