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Grant Wood

I have spent over 10 years working in digital marketing as a copywriter and content developer. The majority of which has been specialising in the practice of conceptualising, researching and writing optimised content for clients’ websites and any other digital asset material they may require.

Hello Doctor •

Skinny with side effects

Are you about to kick-start a diet program to shake off those extra kilo’s – the winter-rolls or the weekend-pouch? There’s a problem: in an attempt to burn fat fast, some people reach for diet medication.

Banting, Atkins, Paleo, Weight-watchers – there are countless diets out there that promise to help you shed kilo’s and why do we follow these diets? Simple: we all want to look and feel confident in our skin. But there’s a point where the pursuit of a perfect physique can actually cause us ha
Hello Doctor •

Quick-fix fitness fads: The solution or the problem?

“Sculpt a six-pack in only 10 days!” – no doubt you’ve seen these statements in magazines and infomercials. We love to hear that we can achieve maximum results from minimum effort. Unfortunately the only thing you’re going to max out is your credit card.

They’re everywhere: “magic” diets and exercises that say that you can transform your body in days by using “ground-breaking” products, and miracle machines that will destroy flab to make you look fab. Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way. It’s t
Hello Doctor •

LOL! The benefits of laughter

Laughter is contagious, in a good way dungeonmaker apk! Make sure that you catch it. When you are having a difficult day, don’t those memes and GIFs on Twitter and Facebook make things so much better? We think so.

Besides giving you an emotional feeling of happiness, those moments of glee have physical benefits on your body. And that’s not a joke.

What happens when you laugh?

Blood pressure drops. A study conducted by Osaka University, in Japan, found a link between laughter and the lowering
Hello Doctor •

Predictive medicine: Do you really want to know your future?

“She just has perfect genes” When you look at someone like Angelina Jolie: beautiful, famous, successful…oh, and is the wife of Brad Pitt. It’s easy to be envious, but her story is far from perfect. Those “flawless” genes predicted a future that would change her life, forever.

Cancer runs in Jolie’s family. Through genetic testing, she learned that she had an 87% chance of developing breast cancer. In 2013, she decided to undergo a voluntary double breast amputation (mastectomy) to prevent gett
Hello Doctor •

Myth-busting: It’s not all in your genes

“It’s not my fault that I’m obese; my parents are too – it’s genetic, and there’s nothing that I can do about it.” Yes. There are diseases that are purely genetic, but we’re going to show you that you can’t always use genetics as an excuse for your medical condition. Let’s explain.

Let’s face it: nobody wants to accept blame. It’s far easier to use genetics as an excuse than to stick to a strict eating plan and an hour of gym 3 times per week! In some cases, people may believe that they’ve been

How to retain SEO clients during a global crisis

How to retain SEO clients during a global crisis

It’s a volatile time, to say the least. The coronavirus pandemic is impacting and changing user behavior, forcing a re-evaluation of our priorities, particularly when it comes to spending money.

This has contributed to many marketers and agencies experiencing a wide range of changes to which they need to adapt. Concurrently, the same effects are being felt by their clients, particularly in the travel; retail and eCommerce (FMCG) arenas. It begs
Fio •

Have You Ever Heard Of Neuromarketing?

Summary. Neuromarketing is a potential game-changer in the marketing landscape. Brain scanning and imaging equipment can be used to determine prospects’ reactions and preferences to stimuli such as logos, packaging material and campaigns, allowing marketers to essentially reverse engineer their marketing strategy by knowing which elements will contribute to conversions first. This could save significant amounts of time and money because all marketing efforts can be laser-targeted from the get-go
Fio •

UPDATED: Are You Maximising Micro-Moments?

SUMMARY. How many of you are reading this article on your smartphone right now? Dependence on mobile devices has changed the traditional user journey and split it into thousands of micro-moments, each of which is pertinent to someone, somewhere, at some point in time. Users’ perception and consequent trust of a company can hinge on a single micro-moment sliver. So, if you can optimise your content for these moments, you’re going to be noticed, leading to more leads and increased sales.

How do y
Fio •

Do I Need To Add Influencer Marketing To My Business Strategy?

SUMMARY. Influencer marketing can be a valuable addition to your business strategy. However, it’s vital that you understand the concept – you’ll be surprised how many people think they do, but they don’t. Ensure that you take the time to study the different types of influencers meticulously. It’s essential you find someone who aligns with your brand values and beliefs and can share your product authentically and honestly.

There are a lot of misapprehensions about influencer marketing: what is i
Fio •

UPDATED: Business Growth Strategies in 2021

Summary. Since the onset of the pandemic, businesses have had to change their growth strategies due to the current socio-economic environment. Franchising, affiliates (independent agents), acquisition and human capital are four of the top agile business growth strategies recommended in 2021 and beyond.

Are your marketing and operational strategies running smoothly, and the business is achieving a stable ROI? That’s fantastic! You’ve reached a significant milestone. Now, you may feel it’s the ri
Fio •

UPDATED: How To (Properly) Interview a Job Candidate

The pandemic has had a significant impact on South Africa’s unemployment rate, which now stands at an unprecedented 32.6%. Couple this with the economic instability that has caused many businesses to retrench staff or shut down permanently, and you have thousands of people applying for fewer job vacancies. It’s now more important than ever for employers to know exactly how to interview job applicants to ensure top tier employee acquisition.

All businesses want to attract top talent, the perfect
Fio •

Gamification: Play to Learn

“Alright, everyone. It’s time to play a game!” Do you remember the flurry of excitement you felt when your pre-school teacher announced those terrific words? You dropped whatever you were doing and became fully attentive at the prospect of a game at school! Fast-forward 20 years, and you’re struggling to keep your eyes open during another boring slide presentation intended to train and upskill. Which scenario would you prefer?

So, what’s the connection? In both scenarios, the aim is to educate
Fio •

Social Commerce: Is It Right For Your Business?

Have you ever heard of social commerce? Simply put, it’s a way of selling products by using social media platforms as an online ‘store’. The supported platforms (mentioned below) allow business owners to create business pages to showcase their product range, including via images and/or video, descriptions, copy, logos and augmented reality functionality such as filters.

It may be a brand-new concept to some individuals, but the idea framework has actually been around since 2005, before Facebook
Fio •

Scent, Sound And a Bit of Digital: Creating a Memorable Customer Experience

When marketers speak about customer experience, they’re typically referencing a streamlined journey through a website; we tend to forget that sales don’t only happen online, but the question is how can a customer experience be applied to a brick and mortar store? It’s not as tricky as you may think, but it does need to be implemented strategically. So, for this article, let’s use a physical retail chain store.

How do businesses get customers to visit their store?

We know that the eCommerce spa
Fio •

Why You Need a Resonating Brand Identity

Your brand identity (also known as a company identity) is the way you present your business holistically to your prospective client base, which these days can be worldwide. Your brand identity consists of a corporate identity and company profile.

How to shape your brand identity

You need to become familiar with the following concepts and be able to answer all the proceeding questions before you can start developing your corporate identity and company profile.

Personalisation, engagement, and
Fio •

Understanding CIPC Registration: Are You Trading Legally?

So, you have to start a new business? Perhaps a trendy restaurant in a hotspot location that’s becoming known as ‘the place to go’. The clientele is fantastic, and you’re turning a profit; that’s great, but is the business registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC)? If not, you’re likely trading illegally.

There are only two ways that a business can trade without CIPC registration:
• None If you are trading as a sole proprietor, meaning you (as an individual) own
Fio •

Do I Need a Copywriter or Content Developer?

Content as a collective term forms the foundation on which all digital marketing activities are based – I think everyone from avid entrepreneurs in the process of building start-ups to small business owners and corporate titans understands the gravitas of this marketing principle.

The reality is that content may sound simple enough to apply. Still, numerous factors need to be considered and analysed before appropriate, traffic driving, customer converting content can be uploaded to clients’ web
Thousandaire •

Making Rational Investment Decisions

Bias can have a significant effect on our decision-making method when faced with investing in unit trusts

Here’s an effective analogy to put this statement into perspective: If you toss a coin 10 times and each time it lands on tails, what do you think the result of the 11th toss will be? There are two options:
• You may call tails again because you make the assumption that the trend will continue or;
• Choose heads if you feel that the trend will buck.

Heads or tails? Statistically, there is
Africa Geographic •

Dragon-like sungazer lizard in danger

The sungazer – a name that would fit that of a mighty dragon! Well, technically it does, as its scientific name is Smaug giganteus – a wonderful reference to Smaug the dragon in Tolkien’s The Hobbit. And the resemblance to Daenerys Targaryen’s dragon children in Game of Thrones is almost uncanny.

But that is where the fantasy world ends for the rare sungazer lizards, and reality begins.

NOTE: Sungazer lizards do not make good pets, and it is illegal to keep them in captivity.

It can be summed
On Check by PriceCheck •

Review: Rugby Challenge 3 – Springbok Edition – PS4

Scrum, ruck, maul, drop-kick and pass your way to victory. This is the highly-anticipated 3rd iteration in the Rugby Challenge series! This time it has a full SANZAR license, which means that you’ll be able to play official SupeRugby!

We all love to experience a good game of rugga, but the absence of official apparel really made the previous iterations feel dull – well, the final whistle has been blown and with a full SANZAR license, players will are rendered as close to reality as possible: of
On Check by PriceCheck •

Review: Mortal Kombat X Special Edition – PC

FIGHT! Welcome to Mortal Kombat X Special Edition – a must-have for the true MK warrior. It includes exclusive downloadable content such as the Scorpion war skin.

You’ll be pleased to know that MK “originals” such as Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage have not been cut, but be prepared for some surprises…did someone say Jason Voorhees?

As always, guts, blood and ultimate slaughter form the mainstay of the game, no matter which character you choose.

The story begins where 2011’s iteration ended. Raid
On Check by PriceCheck •

Overview: Hisense’s new C30, ROCKS!

Hisense continues to grow in confidence – and I like it! Following the expansion of its beautifully-designed Infinity range – the two most recent additions being the Elegance and the Faith, they have created an element-proof device that challenges brands such as Caterpillar who have, until now, spearheaded the “ultimate protection” device.

The packaging is awesome! It catches your eye immediately; the placement of the dust and water imagery, being separated by the untouched phone, is genius. Wh
On Check by PriceCheck •

Review: Grand Theft Auto V - PC

Grand Theft Auto V for the PC is here! In this open-world game there are very few rules – none if you choose, but the cops may have something to say about that!)

Like its predecessors, stealing, robbing, reckless driving, fights and interactions with “questionable” characters can be expected – create chaos!

The story is set in Los Santos, San Andreas where former bank robber, Michael Townley lives in witness protection, under the alias, Michael De Santa.

Pure anarchy erupts when Michael finds
On Check by PriceCheck •

Review: Halo 5 Guardians – Xbox One

Welcome to Halo 5: Guardians. It’s been 8 months since the events of Halo 4. There are many questions to be answered – is Halsey really going to seek revenge on the UNSC? What is ‘mdama going to do now that he has half of the “Janus Key”? This iteration of in the Halo series will reveal startling responses that will blow your mind!

The game picks up in the year 2558 – 8 months after the events in Halo 4. It follows the journey of 2 fireteams: Osiris and Blue; the latter is led by Master Chief J
On Check by PriceCheck •

Review: WWE 2K16 – PS4

Beware of the Texas Rattlesnake! He can strike at any…stunner, stunner out of nowhere! WWE’s 2K16 gives you the ability to “stomp a mud hole in your opponents” as you follow the career of the legendary “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.

2K sports returns with its third iteration of the popular pro wrestling game. WWE 2K15 garnered a lot of criticism, so let’s see if 2K16 has pinned down the flaws.

The counter/reversal system was sub-par in the previous iteration, and this year, it doesn’t seem to be m
On Check by PriceCheck •

Apple AirPods - Is This Our Wireless Future?

Wireless headphones are the future; at least that’s what Apple would have us believe.

The company “courageously” removed the 3.5mm headphone jack from the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus thereby forcing people to adapt to either using the in-box lightning headphones or to get a pair of Bluetooth headphones, ideally the AirPods.

The AirPods look weird, we all know that, but looks aside, are they worth the money?

The question that I get asked most often is “will they fall out of my ears?”

The simple answe
On Check by PriceCheck •

Review: Rise of the Tomb Raider – PC

Rise of the Tomb Raider is the highly-anticipated sequel to 2013’s Tomb Raider, which is a reboot of the series franchise.

The game kicks off where 2013’s Tomb Raider ended. Lara Croft is still trying to understand the paranormal events that took place at Yamatai. In the search for answers, she turns to her late father’s research about the lost city of Kitezh – a place that holds an artifact that promises the gift of immortality.

She is cautioned not to go, but this doesn’t stop her. She is in
On Check by PriceCheck •

Review: WWE 2K17 – Xbox One

Mayhem, drama, pageantry and pure, unadulterated athleticism is what you can expect from WWE 2K17! The popular pro wrestling video game series is back!

The WWE has always prided itself on its product; one that is dynamic in order to give the fans – the WWE Universe – exactly what they want, and this iteration is no exception.

The developers Yuke’s and Visual Concepts have focused on creating an experience that captures the look and feel of WWE’s current product. This means that the majority of
On Check by PriceCheck •

Ultra South Africa 2017 – An Experience From Another Galaxy

Martin Garrix, David Guetta, DJ Snake, KSHMR – these are just a few of the names that turned their tables at the Samsung-sponsored Ultra South Africa music festival last Friday, February 24th.

I was lucky enough to have been invited as part of the media and was therefore able to be at the stadium before the arrival of the plethora of electro enthusiasts. I took a look over the 2nd-tier balcony and saw what can only be described as an awe-striking structure – modern-day megalith!

This year the
On Check by PriceCheck •

Review: Fallout 4 – Xbox One

The fourth installment of the popular open-world post-apocalyptic RPG is here and it makes an impact! You’ll be absorbed by the marvelous storyline; it will spur you on your quest for revenge…but in order to be successful; reflection and the understanding of the choices that you make are essential to master.

It’s October 23, 2077; you are living in Sanctuary Hills with your spouse (Nate or Nora, depending on the gender of the central character), son and robotic butler, Codsworth. Everything is