According to Bankrate.com, thirty-five percent of consumers have never checked their credit reports. That number is astounding, considering credit scores are used when applying for credit cards, financing, renting a home, opening utilities, getting a cellphone and more.

While those activities don’t happen every day, our credit scores are important and can be difficult to fix once they get out of hand. Not to worry though, I’m here to help you learn more about your credit score and how to make sure it’s in great shape for your next credit check.

Social media is everywhere – it’s sometimes our main means of connecting with others and may be the near universal driving force behind procrastination. 

So it’s likely that your customers and clients are on social media and you should be too.

Social media may seem like a perfect outlet for reaching customers, given that many platforms are inexpensive and user-friendly. However, the work that social media companies do for you tends to begin and end with a platform. 

Stock markets, bull runs and crashes. Losses, China, and corporate earnings. Any financial conversation going on right seems to be peppered with these buzzwords.

Everyone seems to be collectively holding their breath, waiting and watching for what’s coming next. Is China’s terrifying crash headed west? Are the two markets even related? We have seen stock markets all over the globe run the gamut. From incredible jumps and equally terrible drops, with China reporting the lion’s share of the losses (a whopping 40% plummet in 10 weeks). Let’s dig a little deeper into some of these terrible headlines and see if everyone is crying wolf or if we really need to start to worrying.

The chicken or the egg, it’s an age-old question. But today I’m talking about marketing and culture, which comes first? Are marketing campaigns the result of cultural influence, or does culture adapt based on marketing?

Andy Badalamenti, creative director, copywriter and content developer, recently contemplated this idea in his LinkedIn blog post “Is marketing driven by culture, or is culture driven by marketing?”

Do you feel like a valued member of your company? If you do, you are likely in the minority.

More than 70% of employees don’t feel valued by their employer according to Gallup-Heathways Well-Being Index. Clearly in this case it’s a problem. In fact, Gallup estimates that it’s a $300 billion a year problem. I’d say if any problem is worth looking into, it would be one with a price tag like that.