It makes good business sense to invest in women

August 8, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Dr. Linda Zuze, founder and director, Chimango Research

As a researcher, I get to wake up every day and to ask questions for a living. One of the most consistent findings that I’ve encountered over the years is that women’s success benefits a lot of people around them. Children have a better chance of attending school, being fed and living in a safe environment. It is true that there is far greater recognition about the importance of the gender angle when discussing inequality than there has been in the past.

Harness the power of your positive aggression journey

August 8, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Mbalenhle Ndaba

A positive aggression journey is to breathe your way into a peaceful state. Aside from spiritual paradigms about peace and harmony, which I am convinced are the only lasting way to sustain peace, there are several things we can do to enter a more relaxed state. In the journey of positive aggression, every individual should know how to master their emotional equilibrium. Winners do not dwell on what is wrong, they work on what is next.

5 tough things to talk about with your future co-founder

August 8, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Claire Keet Pollock and Sinal Govender, Co-Founders of pop.law

Like choosing the person you marry or have babies with, choosing a business partner is not a decision to be taken lightly. The romance of any honeymoon period wears off, but none so quickly as the business partnership honeymoon. If you’re a fast moving entrepreneur, then you’ll know that seizing opportunities and getting some skin in the game fast is extremely important. This means that your relationship with your co-founder/s will need to evolve quickly. Moving out of the fun ideation phase of a business into difficult startup territory puts massive pressure on people who are in business together. The foundations of your partnership will become really important and it helps to have at least spoken about some of the following things.

Effective invoicing is critical for your cash flow management

August 8, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Ronel Jooste

Many business owners find the invoicing process quite tedious and this is also a process that many businesses neglect. Invoicing is, however, a critical process for your cash flow management.

What is the Pandemic offering you?

August 1, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Kathy Mann, Author & Speaker

In the first week of 2020, I drove from my home in Johannesburg to Durban to spend a week interviewing my grandmother about her life for a book. It was fascinating to hear about how life was as a teenager for my grandmother during the Second World War in England.

Emotional Contagion

August 1, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Dr Ashika Pillay

It’s not just the virus that’s contagious…

With the advent of COVID-19, most people have become familiar with concepts related to infectious disease, how viruses are spread and transmitted. However, beneath the real threat of the virus and its impact on our health and wellbeing, lurks another infectious disease. Anxiety and fear are real threats that pose a massive risk to us.

Coronavirus Anxiety

August 1, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Julia Ranzani

Every now and then when I check the CORONAVIRUS WORLDOMETER or hear NEWS ABOUT COVID-19. I get this ice cold fear running down my spine. I can’t help it, my mind jumps to horrific images inspired by silly doomsday action movies. So for a moment I’m overwhelmed with CORONAVIRUS ANXIETY.

Ignore the NO, focus on the YES

August 1, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Brigette Mashile, founder of Roka Roko

Two weeks ago I submitted my writing to an organization that is looking for content writers. I was referred by a friend. After 2 weeks I was about to ask if they had received my work for the opportunity but I received the reply first. And it was a NO. I will admit, I feared that it was a no before I opened the email; I tried to reprimand myself. Why am I expecting the worst? Well I did receive the worst.

Top 10 Keyword Research Tools To Boost Your Organic Traffic

August 1, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Wuraola Ademola-Shanu

If people can’t find your site on search results, you are missing out on traffic, leads, and most importantly, sales!

One of the best ways to solve the problem of low traffic is with keyword research tools. Google uses keyword as an important SEO ranking factor. This is because searches only find content that Google thinks is relevant to what they are searching for.

Why is criticism bad for a relationship?

August 1, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Paula Quinsee

You might’ve heard of Maslow’s hierarchy and having to meet our basic needs of food and shelter being key for our survival. Well, as human beings one of our other basic needs is to be loved and accepted for who we are – especially when it comes to our relationships.

Confinement and the mind

July 26, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Zilia Ximenes

Knowing the difficulties that everyone is going through because of the Covid-19 pandemic, this article is not to speak specifically of the pandemic, but of the effects on the mind of each individual impacted by it.

Opportunities Knock despite Covid-19 Crisis

July 26, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Ronel Jooste

Despite the financial stress, uncertainty and knock-on impact the covid-19 crisis is causing for the economy, businesses and households, there are also multiple opportunities for people to create wealth for themselves amid the crisis. Looking at history various companies that have grown into massive multi-national companies were in fact born during a time of recession – Microsoft, General Electric, General Motors, Disney, IBM and the Hyatt Hotel Group to mention a few.

Post-Pandemic Growth

July 26, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Kathy Mann, Author and Speaker

I recently wrote the story of my grandparents’ love and their life together that spanned seven decades. I travelled to the coast early January and interviewed my 94-year-old grandmother about her life and how they fell in love. My husband stayed behind to feed the cats and to work, so the week was an opportunity to soak up the female company of my grandmother, mother, aunt and my two little girls. We laughed, we shared and we bonded. There is something special about being in the presence of multiple generations of women.

7 Reasons Why Content Marketing Is Queen

July 25, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Wuraola Ademola-Shanu

If you run a business in today’s day and age, one simple fact remains - you cannot turn away from digital marketing to survive and thrive. One of the best ways to grow in the online world is Content Marketing.

What entity is best for running my business

July 25, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Claire Keet Pollock and Sinal Govender, Co-Founders of pop.law

Deciding which entity to use to run your business is a lot like buying a car. There are quite a few options and it can be a bit overwhelming working out if you need the Range Rover or if a good old bakkie will do. There are many things to consider depending on if you run a business on your own or with partners, what your appetite is for personal liability, and what tax implications you may be in for.

In the darkest nights, the stars still shine

July 25, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Eldari Visser

I am sure if anybody writes another article about COVID-19 you will surely swipe on and away. Seriously we’ve had enough constant reminders of a thief amongst us. What if we were so deeply affected that we are still reeling and trying to grasp for air? What if we still don’t have an idea of how our business is going to survive or even where to start again? What if you have lost more than you could ever imagine? What if all you can see right now is the darkness and the stark reality of you can’t “see” where to turn to next?

Protecting your Intellectual Property as an entrepreneur

July 16, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Seno Namwandi

Intellectual Property (IP) is widely spoken of but not always well understood. The IP ecosystem is complex, broad and has to balance varying interests from creators to financiers to consumers. It is relevant to the songwriter, medical technician, architect, software coder, business owner etc. IP is loosely defined as a legal right granted to a property that arises as a result of intellectual activity or creative input. It is inherently a legal right granted by a government body to exclude unauthorized third party use. Enforcement varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction which can be complicated. However, through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), there are a set of uniform legislations and regulations to govern IP.

Recruiting in Femicide South Africa

July 16, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Kulani Shiluvane, Founder and Chief Consultant, Shiluvah

One of the services that we offer at Shiluvah is recruiting the best talent for our clients, a majority of which are SMMEs. SMMEs that do not have the budget for offices in high rise buildings in well known locations; SMMEs that are still trying to make a name from themselves and grow into the well known organisations people have come to know and trust, and whose authenticity is unquestionable. And while such facts shouldn’t be a problem when it comes to sourcing talent – in Femicide South Africa, it is and here’s why.

Rest is more than just sleep

July 16, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Dr Ashika Pillay

There’s no doubt that many of our minds are on hyper-alert. The stress response of feeling vigilant, worrying , planning, working, and dealing with immediate day-to-day chores can be overwhelming. At this time of lockdown when we supposedly have “more time”, we can actually feel burnt out, because so much is changing, uncertainty pervades and the balance of the “known” is thrown off. Expectations of “being more productive”, having more family time, exercise etc can actually deplete us by making us feel like we are not “making the most” of the time that we have? A spectrum of emotions like guilt, shame, anger, anxiety, frustration are part of what we experience through the day.

Bringing the human into our digital meetings

July 15, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Paula Quinsee

Digital meetings are very different to meeting in person, we miss the real essence of human connection and can miss many of the subtle cues we would have potentially picked up when being in front of someone such as body language, facial expressions and the energy/vibe of the person.

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