Increasing Traffic on Instagram profile

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Instagram has become one of the main platforms for social media marketers. Increasing traffic on Instagram profiles is not an easy job to do. But with some easy hacks, it can make this job easy. The above infographic is consist of step by step process for gaining traffic on Instagram profile.

6 effective tricks and tips for living with epilepsy

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder, which happens due to abnormal brain activity. The major symptom of epilepsy is a seizure, but not much is known about the same. Some people suffer from epileptic seizure due to head injury or stroke or trauma.

Epilepsy is still a problematic disorder. People believe that living with epilepsy is not possible. It is not true if you know what triggers your seizure, you can take preventive measures and live a normal life. Similarly, by following some life hacks and tips you can get better and manage your epilepsy.

In this blog, we will discover these tips.

Medication

Medication can help you manage and successfully treat your epilepsy. That is why make sure that you always have your medication with you, whether you are at home or in office. Don’t ignore even a single dose, because it can lead to problems, and seizures.

Keep a track of your medicine so that you buy them before they are over. Set a reminder on your phone so that you take your medicine on time.

Be an expert

Epilepsy affects everyone differently. Thus, knowing your individual journey for the same is imperative. Ask your doctor every question that will help you understand your situation better. Ask questions like:

1. Type of seizure you are suffering from
2. Can you be alone?
3. Medication dosage, side-effects, and so on.

Once you know all this, make sure that you make a plan that helps you live with epilepsy.

Eat healthily

It is best to eat a diet which is rich in protein, and low on carbs. Drinking plenty of water is essential too. Some reports suggest that the keto diet works best for people suffering from epilepsy and seizure. But it is best to ask your doctor for advice before you make any changes to your diet.

Keep a track of your epilepsy

It is important to keep track of your epileptic seizures. Or if you experience any shift in your moods or emotions or if you feel there are side effects to your medication. Knowing your illness is important, and this data will aid you in identifying your triggers and working on improving them.

Furthermore, if you are aware of your triggers, you can prevent them too.

Exercise regularly

Staying active is important, and for the same, you can include some exercise in your daily routine. It will not only make you happy, keep you active, and stress-free, but can also help reduce the number of seizures you experience.

Indulge in any exercise that you deem fit for you, like walking or dancing or yoga. Make sure to share them with your doctor so that they can tell you if you are doing something wrong.

Have a sleep routine

Sleep deprivation is a trigger for seizure. Thus, make sure you follow a sleep schedule. Sleep every day at the same time, and make sure to try and take a peaceful nap. Listen to calming music or have camphor or essential oil burning in your room to stimulate peaceful sleep.

Living with epilepsy can be difficult, but with certain precaution, you can lead a peaceful and normal life.

Dull skin? Try these 4 homemade masks for glowing skin

Skin is the biggest organ in the body, and if we don’t take good care of it, it will become dry and dull. There are tons of reasons why your skin looks dull or is losing the glow, like stress or your diet. But it is something that you can work on and get better.

Our skin needs love and care and protecting it is important. Your diet and being happy is one of the biggest factors that can make your skin glow. Other things like putting on sunscreen, using the right moisturizer, hydration, and exfoliating it once a week is important too.

Did you know that some of the ingredients in your kitchen can help your skin get the glow back? While you have to work on external factors like getting more sleep and reducing stress. These masks can give your skin the nourishment and push to start repairing themselves.

Here are 4 effective skin masks for glowing skin.

Banana, lemon, and honey mask

Banana is a great fruit that not only helps with digestion and blood pressure, but it also helps your skin. It has soluble fibers, calcium, magnesium and potassium, which is great for oily skin. It is a great exfoliator and helps in unclogging the pores and removing dead skin.

Here is how to use it in a mask:

1. Take 1 ripe banana and mash it
2. Add a tablespoon of lemon and honey, and mix it with the mashed banana
3. Apply this to your neck and face and leave it for 15-20 minutes
4. Wash it off with the help of warm water.

For best results, use this mask once a week.

Turmeric mask

Turmeric or Haldi is a blessing in disguise. This spice has healing properties and works well on inflammation and acne, it also helps with dull skin.

Here is how to use it in a mask:

1. Add 1 tablespoon of turmeric, add three tablespoons of lemon juice.
2. Apply it on your face and neck and keep it on for 15-20 minutes
3. Wash it off with water and clean your face thoroughly.

Green tea mask

Green tea is rich in antioxidants which is beneficial for the skin. You can drink green tea daily for better skin, it also reduces stress which is a trigger for dull skin. To use it as a mask, follow these instructions:

1. Take 2 tablespoons of green tea and grind it into a fine powder. Now, add a tablespoon of Yogurt and a drop of essential oil, like rosemary or lavender or tea tree oil, and so on.
2. Apply it on your neck and face, and massage it deeply. Remove using warm water after a while.

Besan and turmeric mask

Besan or gram flour has alkalizing properties which means that it can attract the are present deep in your pores. Turmeric, as we know, is anti-inflammable and has healing properties.

1. Mix one tablespoon of turmeric and besan together with lemon water. Add some drops of rose water in it.
2. After keeping for a while, remove the mask using warm water.

P.S. Do check these masks on a little patch of the skin to test that they work on your skin, and doesn’t itch or leave red marks.

What do you do for glowing and healthy skin? Tell us in the comments below.

Web archiving of social media for compliance

The dawn of the internet age has been revolutionary for humans. The social media platforms have further amplified the internet’s usage. Based on internet statistics, more than 3.4 billion people used social media worldwide in 2019. The number of mobile phone users has also increased to 5.1 billion in 2019. This has further increased the internet’s outreach to people. Moreover, the use of social media users is increasing globally by 9 percent. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, etc. are some of the major social media platforms used by people. Such high usage of these platforms generates enormous data on a day-to-day basis.

Due to so much data being generated online, it needs to be preserved to meet regulatory compliance. These regulations are laid by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). So, to avoid risks and fines, your organization should archive all the communication on social media portals.

Complexity in social media archiving

It isn’t easy to archive social media websites. These platforms are complex, interactive, and ever-changing. To give users great browsing experience, these platforms have expandable and intricate features. All these nitty-gritties cannot be captured just by taking a screenshot of the social media account. Until you have all the data captured properly, you will fail to meet compliance regulatory requirements.

How to archive social media

There are some points that you must look into a web archiving service that you are picking for archiving social media communications.

1. The archiving service should be able to capture the full context of communication happening through a social media account. All dynamic and complex features should be extracted and archived properly. The data should be stored in the WARC file format generated by a web crawl software.

2. The archived data should be saved in a robust storage format. SEC has defined Rule 17a-4, which mandates data storage in WORM format. WORM is a short form for ‘write once, read many’. The WORM storage devices are non-erasable and non-rewritable. Using this storage type ensures that the correct record is archived.

3. You should be able to navigate through the archived data based on keyword searches and other criteria. This will only be possible if your website is archived in a proper format with the right context. This makes it data access easy for eDiscovery and regulatory supervision.

The requirements mentioned above make the choice of a web archiving tool very difficult. Since the compliance regulations have to be met, you can’t even take shortcuts in data archiving. Stillio is one of the best archiving tools available in the market currently. It’s archiving software easily captures the dynamic nature and all the social media communications of a website. You can also navigate through the archived data without any hiccups. The storage is robust and compliant with the regulations. So don’t waste your precious time on budget vendors for archiving data for regulatory compliance. Reach out to the team at Stillio for knowing more about their tool’s features.

Pros and Cons of managing in-house web archives

Web archiving has become a necessity in today’s fickle digital world. Many vendors offer good web archiving services to companies. But all these services come at a cost which companies plan to save. Thus, many companies have started building in-house archiving solutions for their businesses.

Building such a complex system requires a lot of skill, time, and money. If the companies don’t invest wisely the in-house archiving solution is bound to fail. This can be catastrophic for a business. Before going ahead with an in-house system, let us understand its pros and cons for better clarity.

Pros of in-house web archives

There are certain advantages to building a team that handles web archiving tasks for your business. Some of these are:

1. Existing resources: The IT department works more closely with technology. Your company can use these existing resources in designing a web archiving solution. This saves the company’s initial investment cost.

2. Complete control: By building an in-house archival solution, the company knows which data is stored. Customization and automation become easy to implement. You have complete freedom with the choice of method and frequency for archiving your data.

3. Data access: Your company’s data contains sensitive information like future projects, trade secrets, customer deals, etc. You wouldn’t want any third-party to access this data. With an in-house tool, you can provide data access on a need-to-know basis.

Cons of in-house web archives

Most of the companies have their in-house IT department. To save cost and investment money companies most of the time assign the task of web archiving to the IT department. But, there are certain drawbacks of in-house web archives:

1. Lack of experience: The IT department doesn’t have the required experience to handle web archiving. Thus, managing the archives, resources, and responsibilities become tough for them. Even though they are able to come up with a solution, it isn’t meeting the benchmark most of the time.

2. Investment: Having an in-house web archiving team that has less experience and a low skill set, leads to more investment over time. Your company will end up spending more money on designing, validating, and implementing the archiving solution. The maintenance of the archives also requires time and resources which your company has to invest in.

3. Content management systems: Companies mistakenly consider CMS systems as a web archival solution. Firstly, it isn’t a long-term solution. Secondly, it is a backup method instead of a functional archive. And lastly, it doesn’t store all the information from your website. This would be a risky bet for your company.

By archiving the data in an in-house tool  you would be winging the archival process. For good in-house archival solutions, your company will have to build that infrastructure and invest in long-term maintenance as well. Plus, investment in training resources would be additional. It would be in the best interest of your company that a group of professionals does your job. Tools like Stillio, provide world-class web archiving services that would be beneficial for your business.

3 ways to make coffee using coffee pods

Coffee pods are single-serve pods that you can use to make a fresh cup of coffee every time. The current Nespresso pods are biodegradable, so they won’t harm the environment. It coupled with other reasons like easy to use, different flavors, and so on are making pods one of the most famous alternatives for coffee lovers.

You can browse coffee pods to buy and use different ways to make them. You can buy a single-serve machine to create your coffee, or even use other traditional machines, or even make coffee without using a machine.

In this blog, we will discuss some easy ways to make a perfect cup of coffee using capsules or pods. But first, let’s see their advantages:

1. They come in various flavors

2. Making espresso using pods is easy and you don’t have to clean a lot of mess

3. You don’t need to learn difficult techniques or skills to make coffee using pods

4. They are eco-friendly

5. They always taste fresh

Let’s look at the five ways of brewing a cup of coffee using pods

Making pod coffee using a machine

1. Take out your coffee pod machine and fill the water basin till maximum water sign. Use only clean or distilled water as it will make sure that there is no or less buildup.

2. Now, take out a coffee pod as per your preference and make sure to rip the packaging of the pod carefully. They have individual packaging to keep their taste and freshness intact.

3. Depending on the type of your pod machine, you can put your pod into the machine by using a button to open the pod holder or so on.

4. The machine would either have a setting for high, low, medium coffee or water amount. Adjust it according to how strong you like your coffee. If you don’t do any adjustments, it will brew you a medium cup.

5. Lastly, hit the start button to let the machine prepare your coffee and enjoy it.

Making pod coffee without any machine

If you don’t have a pod machine, don’t fret. You can make it without a machine too just like you make your green tea.

1. Take out your favorite mug and place the pod in it after removing the package.

2. Pour boiling water in the mug from a distance to brew your cup.

3. Let the pod sit in the water for a few minutes and steep it. The longer you do this, the stronger your coffee will be.

4. Remove the pod and enjoy your coffee. You can use any flavor of pods for this method.

Making pod coffee in a non-compatible machine

If you have a coffee making machine which is not compatible with pods, you can still use it. Here’s how:

1. Buy a pod holster for single-serving pods, and make sure it is compatible with your machine

2. Place the pod into the holster and close it

3. After that, you can put your pod holster in the machine at the same place where you put your beans.

4. Place your mug at the appropriate place and adjust the settings so it brews your coffee perfectly

5. Lastly, hit the start button and enjoy your morning coffee.

Which method do you use to drink your pods coffee?

4 ways to solve a dispute with your debtor

For a business, having a debt is frustrating, yet inevitable. When your customers or clients don’t pay you for the services you have rendered to them, you have four options to recover the money.

In this blog, we will look at these four options that can help you recover the outstanding amount.

Alternative dispute resolution

ADR or alternative dispute resolution settles a debt dispute between the debtor and creditor without involving the court. The process involves a mediator who presides over a meeting and helps both sides to resolve the issue with discussions.

It is becoming a popular option for many firms as it helps avoid going to court. The pros of using this option are:

1. It saves money and time

2. A mediator is neutral so both sides have the chance to produce their side of the story

3. It is a confidential process

4. It helps a business preserve its relationship with its clients or customers

The process

The process of ADR is simple. It starts with a mediator listening to each party separately. It helps the mediator decide if ADR will help solve their dispute or not. The process helps both parties come to the conclusion that they can work with.

Sending a demand letter

Another option is to work on your own to recover the outstanding amount. For that, you must start by sending a demand letter to the debtor. The letter has specific details about the dispute, like the debt amount, last date for paying the amount, and consequences of not paying the debt.

A creditor also sends a friendly reminder to the debtor like emails or calling the delinquent. When they don’t respond to either of these tactics, a creditor sends a demand letter to the debtor which informs about the seriousness of the lender involving a warning for a lawsuit.

Hiring a debt collection firm

If you don’t want to file a lawsuit just yet, another great option is hiring a third-party debt recovery agency like Cedar Financial. A debt collector works on commission to recover the outstanding amount, and only takes the commission if they recover the amount.

1. A collector is often more successful in recovering the debt as they have the experience and methods to deal with even the worst of the debtor.

2. They know every federal or state law, and they follow ethical codes while contacting a debtor for payment.

3. A collector usually starts by calling or emailing the debtor for payment.

4. Once they make contact, a debtor can validate the debt, during the validation process, the collector holds the collection process.

5. A collector can also help the debtor come up with a payment plan or help them negotiate the debt.

6. If the debtor doesn’t agree to pay, a collector can sue him with the creditor’s say so.

Filing a lawsuit

Your last option is to file a lawsuit against the debtor. A lawsuit is a time-consuming and expensive process. That is why it is best to keep it as a last resort. Make sure you all documents related to the dispute like the demand letter, and so on.

If you win the lawsuit, you can ask for wage garnishment or seize the assets of the debtor.

What option do you think is the best for your business? Let us know in the comments below.

How to find a reputable debt collection agency?

For a business, having a client who doesn’t pay the bills is inevitable, but equally frustrating. No matter how many precautions you take, you do come across one or two customers who refuses to pay the debt or cannot pay the amount.

Now, you can try to recover the debt yourself, by sending friendly reminders or messages and calls. If that doesn’t work, you can send them a demand letter, which states the consequences of not paying the debt like a lawsuit or assigning the debt to a collector.

If nothing works and you don’t want to go to court yet, your best option is to hire a debt collection agency. They can help you recover your amount and that too quickly.

Let's see what a collection agency is, and how you can find a reputable one for your needs.

A debt collection agency is a third-party collection firm that collects the outstanding amount from the debtor on behalf of the original creditor. They are taken more seriously by a debtor because if they report the collections to the credit bureau, it can affect the delinquent’s credit score.

Also, a collector has various techniques to find the debtor and help them pay the debt, without being aggressive. They work on commission for the debtor and take around 25%-45% cut from the whole debt that they recover. Read reviews to know how a collector works and what other businesses say about using them

Here are some ways you can hire a reputable debt collection agency.

1. Find everything about the debtor

The first thing you need to do is find every detail about the debtor. It is important to do that before you hire a collector because if you don’t have proper details, they won’t be able to collect the debt properly.

Maybe you are dealing with an individual, but the accounts are in the name of a company, so finding exactly who owes the debt is crucial.

2. Choose the type of collection service you want

You have three options:

A third-party collection agency: You can hire a third party collector who will send a demand letter to the debtor. If that doesn’t work or the debtor’s whereabouts are unknown, they can use skip tracing method to find them and contact them for payment.

A collector can also sue the debtor if the creditor wants them to. They have proper documentation that can work for the creditor.

Debt buyer: You can also sell the debt for a small amount. The debt buyer is entitled to the money that they recover from the debtor.

Online debt recovery: Some lawyers or collectors work online to recover the debt. They ask you to fill an online form and then they send the debtor a demand letter. It is cheaper and can be impactful, but you don’t get to say what they write, and you can be working with a scammer too.

3. Finalize the collector

In my opinion, working with a third-party collector is best. You can meet them in person and keep a tab on how they are working your account. Do your research, check for their certification, talk to their previous customers before you hire one.

Keep these tips in mind for future requirements.

4 strategies to increase your debt collection rate

With the economy not showing positive signs globally, most businesses will have to take help from debt collection agencies to recover the outstanding amount from not paying clients. When you hire a debt collector, you increase your chances of recovering your debt.

But what if you are not able to hire a collector? In that case, you need a solid and full-proof debt collecting strategy that strengthens your business’s financial condition. Some of the tips that we are discussing below are useful for even a debt collector.

Here let’s look at these strategies to strengthen the debt collection aspect of our business.

Keep a tab on your most hard-to-find customers

A creditor has a lot of clients or customers, and some of them pay on time, some not. But it is important to have recent contact information of all your customers and clients. Keep updating the contact details so that if the situation comes when you have to find them, it is not that difficult. Ask your debtors to update their contact details every few months as a rule.

The benefit a collector has here is that they can use advance skip tracing method to trace the debtor.  It gives them access to multiple databases and unique abilities to search for the debtor, which makes them more successful.

Monitor debtors who have debts

If you have a debtor who didn’t pay his/her debt due to financial problems and asked for a few more days, monitor them. Keep an eye on their credit report and other financial habits as it can give you a chance to collect the debt as soon as they become solvent.

As a rule of thumb, you should monitor all clients or customers who take services on credit. It gives you a chance to rule out people who will pay you on time, and who won’t.

Some collection agencies keep an eye on your debtor for you, if you partner up with them.

Online negotiation and payment platform

Everyone uses the internet these days for payments. If you want to increase your debt collection numbers, you need to have an online e-resolve too.

It is an online platform that provides your debtor or delinquents to talk to the creditor or collector regarding the debt. They can negotiate the debt, or pay the debt online.

Many creditors and collectors are introducing online negotiation and paying platform with excellent customer service too.

It is time that you too look into this for better success in collecting a debt.

Collection management system

For a business, it has become crucial to invest in a collection management system. It helps keep your business solvent, and since it is a unified collection system, everyone relevant can have access to it.

The best CMS has self-decisive capabilities, work-flow and connectivity capabilities as well. It helps you have an effective and customer-oriented collection procedure which means you can turn even the worst delinquents into valuable customers.

Keep evolving because if you are stuck with old techniques, it may harm your business. With advancing times, you have to advance too.

Can a debt collector call you during holidays?

The holiday season is something that you want to enjoy with your family and friends without worrying about anything. That includes calls from debt recovery agencies like Cedar Financial too. But sometimes a collector calls you during the holiday season to recover the debt. If you are one of those debtors who faced this issue, you may have a lot of questions, like is it legal to call you during the holiday season, and so on?

In this blog, we will try our best to answer your question.

Is it legal for a debt collector to call during the holiday season?

No country has any specific guidelines when it comes to holiday seasons like New Year, Christmas, Diwali, and so on. So, yeah technically a collector is not breaking any laws if they call you during the holiday season.

But if it makes you uncomfortable or takes away your time with family, you can ask the debtor to stop. They should oblige, and if they don’t, you can raise a complaint. The guidelines state that a collector cannot call you at times when it is inconvenient like early morning or late nights, or in-office if you ask them not to. So, asking them to not call you during the holidays should work.

Here are some things you can do when a collector calls you during holidays

1. Tell them to stop calling you

If a collector calls you during the holiday season, you can ask them to stop calling at that time. You can tell them a time which is good for you, and they will call you at that time.

If you want the collector to stop calling you completely, you have to send them a written notice.

Keep in mind, this won’t make the debt or the ramifications of not paying the debt go away. You still need to deal with it, and the best way is to talk to the collector at a later time. Otherwise, your credit report will get updated with collections.

2. Validate the debt and ask for a negotiation plan

If you want the collector to call at another time to sort out the debt issues so that it doesn’t escalate, that is best. When they call you again, make sure to ask them to validate the debt. Once you are sure that the debt belongs to you, you can either pay the whole sum, if you can. Or you can negotiate with the collector. They can negotiate or come up with a payment plan.

Whatever terms you agree upon, make sure that you get it in writing which is signed by all parties involved.

3. Take help from a lawyer

If you think that the collector has made a mistake calling you about a debt which you don’t owe. You can take help from a lawyer that is well-versed in this area. They can advise you on how to move forward.

Reputable debt collectors never call you again at a time which is not right for you. But if you come across a collector who does, ask your lawyer for advice.

Don’t ignore a debt collector’s call just because its holidays. Ignoring it will not make it go away. Talk to them, explain your situation and ask them to call at a convenient call to talk more about the debt.

Debt gone to collection? Here's what you can expect

The most common type of debt in the world is credit card debt, and the second most common debt is a student loan. Having debt is no one’s choice. But sometimes you are not able to pay your bills on time, and you have a debt.

For a debtor, it is important to understand what happens to your debt when you are unable to pay. That is why, in this blog, we will read all about your debt going to the collection and what to expect when it happens.

When a debt does go to collection?

First, let’s understand what a collection is. When a creditor sells your debt to a debt buyer or hires a collection agency to recover the debt, they report it to the credit bureau. The bureau shows that debt under the tab of collection, and it stays on the report till seven years whether you pay the debt or not. It affects your credit score negatively, and paying it off, even in installments helps improve your score.

The reasons why your debt went for collection is because:

1. You didn’t respond to the letters or calls or demand letter of the creditor
2. You refused to pay your debt or you are not able to reach a settlement to pay the outstanding amount.
3. You agreed to pay the debt on a given gate, but you failed to honor your word.
4. All these scenarios compel a creditor to either sell your debt or hire a collector.

Here what happens when your debt goes to collection?

It is important to understand what happens when your debt goes to collection. It is because it helps you to figure out a plan to pay the debt or handle a collector.

In case the debt is assigned to a collection agency, here’s what happens

If the creditor has hired a collection agency to recover the outstanding amount, the collection agency has to follow their instructions. They can and will update your credit report with collection, but they cannot sue a debtor without the say so of the original lender.

Moreover, they cannot negotiate the amount or provide a settlement plan without the consent of the creditor. But they certainly can influence them, and since, they are experienced, a creditor usually listens to them. You can read customer review of Cedar financial to know what process of debt collection they follow.

A collection agency works fast

A collection agency works on commission, and they usually get around 25% to 60% of the total debt that they collect. It provides them with a higher incentive to collect debt fast.

Since they work on commission, they move fast. As soon as they get the account from the creditor, they start contacting the debtor. It can be through mails or phone call, if they can’t reach you through normal methods, they use skip tracing technique to contact you.

Once they make contact with you, you have thirty days to validate the debt. Once you do that, you need to pay the debt or they can provide you with a lawsuit.

A collector knows all the laws-national and international, thus making them a perfect partner for a creditor. They also follow a code of ethics and rules, and reputable collection companies never harass or abuse a debtor.

As a debtor, you should work with a collector to pay off the debt quickly. Also, if you don’t understand the terms or process, you can hire an attorney.