Cultural diversity within your business is an opportunity and needs to be embraced as one. Just take a look around you. Opportunity abounds because our world is a diverse place. Whether you have come to realize it or not as a small business owner, your awareness and respect of cultural diversity in the workplace truly matters to your employees and your client base. If you want your business to be successful and competitive in the future, you will have to utilize these human resources and participate in these diversity trends. As we move further along in the 21st century, it will be necessary for business owners to compete in a more global arena. You’ll compete for resources, for people, and much more. Even though your business may be based in the United States it doesn’t mean your customers will be or that your suppliers are. We are in an age that includes the world wide web. And with the internet the boundaries to doing business in other countries have been overcome. The rest of the world is not just for the big boys anymore. But can you take advantage of that? Do you know what kinds of products will sell in India, China, Finland, Germany and elsewhere? Do you know what kind of goods can be purchased for your business? That is where being a culturally diverse company is an advantage. Your employees may know how to do business in places that you don’t.

Successfully managing cultural diversity in the workplace is a challenge, but one that can be overcome and taken advantage of. The people you hire will always have diverse cultural backgrounds. And that culture is not just based on the color of their skin. They come from different countries, states, regions, and neighborhoods. They can tell you things about places you’ve probably never been and are not likely to visit anytime soon. They’ll be of different genders and social backgrounds. And they’ll things know of things that can impact your business either now or in the future.

Cultural diversity in the workplace can help improve the company’s competitive position in the marketplace. Marketing programs nowadays are constantly geared toward individual ethnic groups. Take as an example the changes that big box stores like Sears and Walmart are making. Once upon a time they believed that what sold well in places like Green Bay, Wisconsin and Seattle, Washington would sell just as well in San Antonio, Texas, and San Diego, California. They didn’t care about who the actual consumers in those areas were.

Everybody buys the same things right? So all of their locations would be shipped the same things. Well they’ve since woken up to the truth. Different cultures demand different products! Now many of the largest chains in the world have given their stores the ability and resources to buy locally.

The management of cultural diversity in the workplace can be considered a response to the need to recognize, respect and capitalize on the different backgrounds in our society in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender. Whether you’ve noticed or not every single day you are exposed to different forms of cultural diversity. From what you watch, where you eat, and the places you visit.

Your small business is a team and just like any team it should be built to take advantage of its strengths and to minimize its weaknesses. Differences among members of a team can work to strengthen the bonds that they form with clients throughout the world. Ethnic diversity in the workplace enables businesses to serve a broader base of clients with ease. Workers can better relate with clients because more often than not your clients are likely to be just as diverse as you. In diversity you’ll find that you share a lot of common ground with your clients. In diversity you’ll find strength!

Businesses that have incorporated diverse training into their strategies have found that the benefits of incorporating diverse talent into the workforce not only improves productivity, but also creates a well balanced pool of knowledge, experience and creativity. Promoting diversity within the workplace can produce lasting results. Results that will reverberate within your business for many years to come.

Promoting cultural and ethnic diversity in the workplace should begin before you hire even your first employee. You need to realize the strength that can be added to your organization by embracing it!

Cash Miller is an experienced entrepreneur and speaker who has spent over a decade as a small business owner. His years of experience in small business cover such topics as planning, management, marketing, human resources, ecommerce, and taxation. If you are looking for more information on this subject and others related to starting and running a small business you can visit his website at http://www.SmallBusinessDelivered.com

Passion

Money, Stuff, Friends etc…all come and go. Passion freekin’ RULES!

After you watch this Comment DAMN IT! I want to hear from people with passion. Tell me your alive.

Love Ya, Perry

Read the rest here

Perry Belcher here with 3 ways you can de-stress your life in 10 days or less.

It’s a plain fact that only you can help yourself overcome stress and the key to that starts with your mind. Without knowing it, the mind is the initial target of stress since everything that happens in our life is initially perceived and processed by our brain. Learning to control your chain of thoughts and a few relaxation tips can do wonder for your personal stress management.

Relax and say goodbye to stress

The first method in dealing with stress in your own personal way is to learn how to relax. It might not be much but professionals and therapists agree that being relaxed while in the throes of stress can help you find solutions in getting rid of it. There are plenty of methods that can help you relax, and you can choose one that will suit you best.

Music and dancing

It is true that the music soothes the savage beast, and your mind is definitely savage when under the influence of stress. Playing instrumental music or nature sounds can ease your mind and help you relax. Some would even recommend dancing to the melody of the music to release the tension that builds up in your body. Loosening all those tight muscles can help you relax as well as increasing the circulation of blood and oxygen into other areas of your body promoting a healthy outlet to stress.

Massage

The body and the mind are connected. The mind can perceive what the body can feel and vice versa. By pampering your body, you can help your mind relax and put you in a calm mood. Getting a massage is a great way to give your body a break, and your mind as well. Shiatsu can do wonders in getting those tired muscles out of your system which will help you feel balanced and energized afterwards.

Aromatherapy massage can also help you relax. Being rubbed with scented oils like jasmine or lavender can help your mind relax while the soothing massage gently caresses your body.

Meditation of mind and body

Meditation is a great way to reduce the tension that builds up in your mind while under the influence of stress. Originally part of the pagan religion, stress is now being incorporated by many professionals as a healthy resort to stress and problems. Try to find a quiet place in your mind or in your office. You may sit down or lie down. Focus on each and every single area of your body and commanding them to relax with your mind. You might feel slightly heavy afterwards since you are internally focused.

Try to visualize an object or phrase a question in your mind. Focus on it as long as necessary. Fleeting thoughts and scenes will flash through but pay them no heed. After a while, your mind will stop projecting images and you will feel like as if you’re floating in total nothingness. You will feel refreshed after meditation and you will be ready to face stress in the face.

Physical exercise

One personal stress management technique that can dispel stress is to find an outlet for your mental and emotional burdens. Physical exercise is a highly recommended approach in dealing with stress and is incorporated by stress management clinics and workouts worldwide.

Since the mind and the body are connected, keeping it healthy will have a profound influence in your state of mind. Doing at least 4 times of physical exercise a week can improve your cardiovascular functions and strengthen your heart.

This will help you avoid effects of stress like stroke, high-blood pressure, muscle pains, and so on.

Perry Belcher

Perry Belcher here with some history of Jazz

In fact, New Orleans, Louisiana is the place where Jazz first began between 1850 and 1900 by African slaves as well as the freed people of color. The first style of Jazz music was known as Dixieland.

In Africa from the Middle to Central to the West, one can hear the intricate rhythmic improvisation of the percussive instruments that is often heard with Jazz Music.  These rhythms combined with the American Spirituals, Hymns, Blues, and the blue grass hillbilly musical sounds created a type of sound the originated in Jazz music.  However, the music was just a peculiar sound without a particular title to call it fifteen years later in 1915. The great pianist Earl Hines born in 1903 played this type of music before the title Jazz became an official style of music. The word “Jazz” which was formerly spelled as “Jass” has it’s origins as a type of American slang used to describe the sound of Jazz music.

It is the sound of Jazz music that began as an offspring from the origins that created this music. In the beginning of the century the instruments used in Jazz music were European  percussion, brass and woodwind instruments primarily for the military marching or dance bands.

Moreover, these instruments were used in the funeral marches in the deeper party of the southern area and well as the northern. The essence of the origins of Jazz music finally became developed into it’s own style with an original shape. In addition, origins of Jazz music expanded the style to the point where it cannot be defined as pure folk music even when some of its roots began there.

Once the education system included the study of music to train musicians in a formal setting it paved the way for many to learn the techniques to create music from the heart. The importance of the origins of Jazz music is to learn all about the sound that many have fell in love with.  Jazz music represents freedom to create color and sound that can be interpreted best by the performers and composers who create this style of music. The origins of Jazz music has been a subject worth debating over when it comes down to labeling it a particular style. Duke Ellington himself explained it as “It’s all music” due to the fact that the music has no particular structure or form it has to take.

Jazz music is not a simple style that can easily be defined except as free music that can easily meld into other styles of music to take it to another level.  Jazz music itself is an innovation of African, Impressionist, Spiritual, Hymnal, Blues and Blue Grass hillbilly music simultaneously combined into a music masterpiece.  The essence of the sound of Jazz music comes from the different musical elements from each part its origins as putting pieces of a puzzle together into one cohesive entity.

Perry Belcher