The Value of Branding

Oh look, I'm back :) I know this site of mine deserves so much more attention than it gets but my offline life just gets in the way. This site is one that I really invested a lot of time and effort to in the beginning, after all. I personalized the template (and this was back when Blogger didn't have the easy to do tabs and stuff! and for someone who has no clue what she's doing, it was a big feat!!!) and even worked on personalizing banners and buttons. And let's not forget this is the site that carries my "brand"....yapatoots :)

Branding or personalizing, whether it is a website, a blog, or even a company, is essential. It is through this that your goals, vision/mission and purpose is known, after all. If you were a home based baking business, for example, that specialized on custom food products creating a logo and carrying a slogan that called that out would be very essential. If you branded your products well enough, and had a good visual reference for it, it can help open up many doors for your business.

While word-of-mouth advertising is always a good way to go, it doesn't hurt to have a wide array of advertising options. Nowadays there are so many free options, such as through social networking sites like Facebook. I know of a friend who sells hair bows and accessories for children and what she does is offer promotional items for purchases made via Facebook and according to her, she's gotten a good response.
You can also check out those personalizing websites (such as www.branders.com) that offer promotional products with your site/products names/logos etcetera. They're quite easy to work with and they offer good deals for big or small industries. Nowadays, ordering promotional and personalized giveaways no longer have to be expensive or limited to the big industry! Be it stickers, pens, t-shirts or what not, branding yourself is definitely the way to go. I remember when I started blogging for business, there was this site that did a keychain giveaway with the name of their brand. Hmmm...maybe I should order some "yapatoots" keychains, yes? :)

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Eco friendly schools on the rise, reaping benefits

 The large increase in going green is expanding all over the world today. Schools are proving to be no exception to this rule, as green construction and practices have become increasingly popular in the education system. Faculty members are always looking for what will help their students in the end and many are realizing that eco-friendly schools are putting up some of the best performances in the classroom. With the increase in sustainability and cut on health problems, eco-friendly schools are continuing to become more and more popular.

The sustainability factor plays a large role in the decisions to “green” anything it seems and schools are no different. Even though the initial construction or remodeling costs of a green school may be more expensive, the cut on long term utilities will more than make up for the extra expenses in the building process. These long term utility expenses will directly reflect one of the great reasons in making a school green.

Making a school eco-friendly can also have a number of health benefits with lower cases of environmental health risks to students and faculty. Through new sets of ventilation and filtering, toxins are cut in an eco friendly environment, which often has a direct result of improved health. With improved health often comes higher attendance. With the higher attendance, grades and performance will likely improve as well.

Replacing the insulation of a school with green options has been shown to be a great way to cut down on health risks within the education system. Many older schools still contain asbestos fibers in their insulation (a material commonly related to the disease mesothelioma). With the choice to use green insulation, many of the health risks that may come with toxic insulation are being eliminated in the process. Even without the need for asbestos removal, green insulation provides one of the best ways to increase a buildings overall sustainability and lower utility costs. In the older schools with toxic insulation, a switch to green may prevent some life threatening health problems, seeing as mesothelioma life expectancy is severe (only an average of a year following diagnosis).

These are just a handful of the reasons in which eco-friendly schools are having multiple benefits for students and faculty today. Higher grades, attendance, better utility costs, and reduced health risks are major bragging points. Certainly with the upward swing in green lifestyles and the benefits of making a school green, it wouldn’t be surprising one bit to see eco-friendly schools continue to pop up and become the norm.

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