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Suppose you own a 1964 Pontiac GTO or a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro. In that case, you might wonder whether you need car insurance from Bajorek Agency Inc. After all, your classic vehicle isn't a daily drive. The reality is that your antique car is required to have car insurance just like other vehicles. Your collector's car poses risks to other road users like other standard cars, and that's why you are required to purchase classic car insurance.
Mandatory car insurance coverages in New York
If you own a car in Rochester, NY, or other parts of New York, you must include the below coverages in your car insurance.
- Property damage liability: This coverage covers you when you cause an accident, causing property damage to other people.
- Bodily injury liability: Assume you cause an accident that injures a pedestrian or another motorist. You will be responsible for their medical costs. Thankfully, you don't have to incur this from your pocket since car insurance takes care of it.
- Property injury protection (PIP): This insurance policy compensates you for partial loss of income and pays for your medical expenses following a road accident.
New York is a no-fault state, meaning that your insurance policy is responsible for your injuries and damages. Simply said, regardless of who caused the accident, everyone claims compensation from their insurance.
Optional classic car insurance coverages
While you are required to include the above coverages in your classic car insurance, you may opt for optional classic car insurance coverages for well-rounded protection of your vintage car. Here are optional classic car insurance coverages to consider.
- Comprehensive and collision coverages
- Roadside assistance
- Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage
- Spare parts coverage
- Cherished salvage coverage
Would you like to protect your heritage with classic car insurance? If you are in Rochester, NY and its environs, please contact Bajorek Agency Inc. for an affordable quote.

subset: commoncrawl


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Breaking Mental Illness Stigma At Work: Woman's Email With Boss Shows Importance Of Mental Health Days
A woman's recent email to her boss explaining her decision to take time off for a "mental health day" has gone viral on the internet. The email highlights the fact that there is still a lot of stigma surrounding mental health, especially in the workplace, and that talking about it is an important step in getting better.
Madalyn Parker, a web developer from Michigan who has depression and anxiety, sent her work team an email informing them that she would be taking two days off from work to focus on her mental health, ATTN reported. In reply, her boss thanked her for sending the letter, explaining that it was helpful to remind the rest of the team of the importance of using sick days for mental health.
"You are an example to us all, and help cut through the stigma so we can all bring our whole selves to work," the email concluded.
"I wanted to call this out and express gratitude for Madalyn's bravery in helping us normalize mental health as a normal health issue," Parker's CEO Ben Congleton wrote in a separate post published on Medium about the experience.
Read: Best New Depression Treatments: 80% Of Patients Find Full Recovery With Metacognitive Therapy
Neither Parker nor Congleton had any idea that their exchange would garner such a response. In a separate post, Congleton expressed his frustration that mental health is still stigmatized both in and outside of work.
"It's 2017. We are in a knowledge economy. Our jobs require us to execute at peak mental performance," wrote Congleton on Medium. "When an athlete is injured they sit on the bench and recover. Let's get rid of the idea that somehow the brain is different."
According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. — 43.8 million, or 18.5 percent — experience mental illness in a given year. These range from major depression, bipolar disorder, to even schizophrenia. Untreated, these illnesses can have serious consequences, and mood disorders, such as depression, are the third major cause of hospitalization for Americans aged 18-44.
What's more, anxiety disorders, such as Parker's, are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults age 18 and older, or 18 percent of the population, The Anxiety and Depression Association of America reported.
A 2014 study measuring mental illness in America found that New Jersey had the lowest rates of reported mental illness, while Utah had the most cases, but West Virginia had the most extreme cases. However, the study could not conclude as to why there are differences in mental health statuses throughout the country, Newsweek reported. All in all, the Pacific Northwest and the Midwest had higher rates of mental illness than other regions in the U.S.
Either way, the statistics show just how widespread mental illness actually is - yet another reason to remove the stigma of taking time to work on health.
See Also:
6 Different Types Of Depression, From Bipolar Disorder To Seasonal Affective Disorder


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Rebel Group Consolidation
Utilising a mixed-methods approach, my research examines how Jihadist-Salafist rebel groups expand and consolidate their control over rival insurgent groups and civil society actors. The majority of research on conflict and extremism considers how rebel groups fight against governments, but little analysis has considered how rebel groups fight and compete with each other. This is form of intra-rebel conflict often accounts for more than half of the conflict events within civil wars and is essential to understanding conflict dynamics. Where the academic literature has considered inter-rebel conflict, it is often too narrowly focussed on fighting, ignoring a much broader typology of inter-rebel interactions which includes alliance-formation, poaching, bargaining, cooperating, and economic coordination. While nationalist rebels have received some attention within peace and conflict studies, the consolidation practices of Jihadist-Salafist groups remain almost entirely unstudied, despite the presense of such groups in more than 50% of active conflicts around the world. My research fills some of these
gaps in our understanding of inter-rebel conflict by examining the sources of inter-rebel competition and consolidation within the Syrian Civil War. The Syrian Conflict, which began with hundreds of rival rebel groups have gradually narrowed to include only a few major factions, with the role of the largest cohesive groups being occupied by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). This research seeks to examine groups such as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (Al-Nusra / HTS), Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIL / ISIS), Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), and the Afghan Taliban (AT). As part of this project, multiple factors and mechanisms, including outbidding, rebel governance, media, and foreign fighters are examined in relation to rebel consolidation. Find out more about research on this topic and the comparative strength of major non-state actors active in the conflict by visiting the NSATD database.
Measuring & Analysing Online Extremism
My research seeks to explain how extremist actors (including Jihadist-Salafist Groups and Far-Right Groups) exploit new online platforms to recruit, organise, and spread propaganda which results in offline harms. My current research examines how these extremist groups increasingly use encrypted social media platforms (Rocket.Chat, Telegram, TamTam Messenger Signal) to communicate privately, and seeks to measure the response and regulatory policies of these technology firms. While the online eco-system has become a lot more challenging for extremist actors over the past 10 years, there remain significant gaps in online security which allow these actors to keep leveraging major platforms as well as alternative sites. This research also takes advantage of the large data sets publicly available to generate insights into the views of individual extremists and broader extremists groups surrounding major debates playing out in the public discourse (stretching from pandemics to elections to military interventions). Lastly, my research addresses the constantly evolving methods and loopholes employed by extremists to use evade detection and community standards on major social media platforms. The methods evading automated moderation include leetspeak, broken text posting, image obscuration, fuzzy matching, and secondary indicators to reduce false positives and identify extremist content more accurately at scale.
Analyzing Online Harms
This research project explores the potential of commercially-available targeted advertising technologies to address online extremism and disinformation. In particular it is focussed on how to best identify individual users who are interested in extremist content or disinformation and offer a different and more reliable source of information. While much of the existing research understandingly focusses on explaining how and why extremist groups exploit online harms, much less has considered the positive interventions that online tools can offer in countering extremism. The technology itself remains neutral whiles its applications determine the net impact. Redirect methods offer compelling and targeted approaches to tailor our message to reach users who are vulnerable to extremism, but there is still limited data and analysis on the best practices and long-term impact of this methodology. The primary research focus of this project centres on users who are only beginning to explore extremist content as opposed to long-term consumers of this content and therefore less likely to be responsive to online treatments. While click-through rates remain relatively low when compared with commercial advertising, even low engagement can lead to lower risks of violent extremism. Future research in this field will centre on the role of empathy, humour, and psychology in developing redirect tools that meet users where they are and engage them with social support networks beyond simply counter-messaging.
Talks & Invited Lectures
Invited Talks, Lectures, and Panel Presentations on Extremism, Disinformation, and Conflict


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Procurement and Supply Chain Training
Crown Agents
Good procurement can make significant financial savings for an organisation. It's also at the heart of improving transparency and fighting corruption.
Our training courses equip delegates to develop more effective procurement strategies, embedding institutional integrity through international best practice and improving every aspect of the procurement cycle, from supply chain risk management and contract management to audit.
Expert trainers offer delegates insight from many years of academic and practitioner experience in the public and private sector.
We have partnered with The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) to offer a qualification course – The CIPS Corporate Award – to develop delegates' careers in supply chain and procurement.
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Please let us know- South Africa
- United Arab Emirates
- Malaysia
- Mauritius
- Singapore
- Canada
DurationShort (0-3 months)
Language- English
- In-Person
- Online


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Tattoos have been a mainstay of sailors for several centuries; and anyone who has been on a cruise ship in the past decade knows that quite a few passengers sport ink.
Although Virgin Voyages may not be the first cruise line to actually put a tattoo parlor on its ships (that honor went to German-line TUI Cruises), Squid Ink has certainly garnered the most publicity for it.
Frank Weber, the line's Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations, calls Squid Ink "his baby" and with his sleeve of tattoos, he is living what he's selling. He said the idea came because he noticed that passengers were getting tattoos to commemorate their sailings when they got off the ship.
And so far, the gamble is a success. Lines for appointments at Squid Ink begin before the shop opens on the first day, and the artists are so busy, the line is considering adding a third chair. Considering that the tattoos carry a minimum price of $250, Squid Ink may end up being a nice money maker for Virgin -- hardly the gimmick that naysayers thought it might be.
We're on the ship's "MerMaiden" cruise out of Miami, and if you're curious about getting inked at sea on Scarlet Lady or another Virgin Voyages ship, here's our guide for what you need to know.
Choose Your Design Before You Board
It should go without saying that if you want to be inked with something that will be on your body forever, you should do some advance research. But Dennis Gensinger, piercer and manager of Squid Ink on Scarlet Lady during our sailing, said that was the number one tip he has for first-timers.
"The first timers, they aren't really sure what to get," he said. While Squid Ink has inspiration design books available for people to browse, it's more helpful if a passenger comes in with a reference image and an idea of where they want it to go.
Your design also dictates how long your appointment needs to be. A micro-tattoo on your finger takes much less time than a custom portrait or a larger back piece. If you're wondering what designs we saw people getting, they were all over the place -- from an anchor on the foot to mark a first cruise to a small A+ blood type tattoo above the breast to an email address on the underside of an arm. Really, anything goes.
Make Your Appointment ASAP
The scramble to get a good Squid In appointment is no joke -- and the competition is particularly fierce if you want one on the last day. Why? Because fresh ink is not supposed to get wet or have excessive sun exposure, which rules out being outside for much of your sailing.
For regular sailors, you can't book your cruise until the ship pulls away from Miami. On our sailing, the doors opened at 7 p.m., and the line started to form before then. Last day appointments were gone within 33 minutes, we were told. (RockStar suite guests get the extra perk of being able to consult with an artist in advance).
Tattoo artist Justin Hauck says that if you are really set on making a tattoo part of your cruise, be flexible with your date -- or do whatever you can to get there early. "You've got to be in it to win it," he said.
Weber said that the line is exploring what can be done to help sailors plan and book their tattoos in advance, either via online consults or appointment making. Still, there's only a certain amount of planning you do without talking to the actual artist, Hauck said. "If you want anything substantial, we're going to tell you to come in here."
Know the Costs and Time Involved
Many first-timers receive a bit of sticker shock when they hear that even a small tattoo will set them back $250. It's not unusual for in-demand artists to charge minimums on land, but Squid Ink's price is a little high if you're getting a tiny design.
The minimum didn't seem to faze the people lined out the door. Having bragging rights that you received your tattoo at the first shop at sea might be worth the cost.
It's also important to realize that many tattoos do take time to do well. Adding color adds time -- and price. Likewise, anything custom will not only cost more, it will take more time than a standard design. Plan your day accordingly.
Trust the Artist
Confession: I came onboard with a design and a placement ready to go (I already have one tattoo). But after my consult with Hauck, I realized that my art wouldn't fit exactly where I had planned it to go. Rather than live with a last-minute decision, I decided to wait until I had more time to think it over.
And that's exactly how a good consult should go. The artists that Virgin has hired for Squid Ink (via contractor World Famous Ink) rotate through short-term contracts, but all have years of experience, Hauck said. You have to, if you're going to carve at sea, although he says that the movement of the ship isn't an issue.
"People jump around in the chairs anyway when we're at home," he said. "If you have the years of experience, you can cope with this."
Remember After Care
The biggest bummer about getting a tattoo at sea is that you can't really swim or be out in the sun afterward. Instructions at Squid Ink tell you to avoid direct sunlight for two weeks afterward and to avoid baths, pools, spas, hot tubs and salt water -- which essentially means you'll be inside for the rest of your sailing.
You'll also have to do the usual routine of applying ointment (Aquaphor is preferred) every few hours. If you don't bring your own, you can buy it at Squid Ink.
Even with these restrictions, we saw plenty of people skipping time on shore for time in the chair. It's all in your priorities.
Don't Drink and Ink
Because you need to make an appointment and have a consult before you get your actual tat, Squid Ink hasn't had problems with people showing up drunk and making a permanent decision they might regret.
"No actual clientele," Hauck said when asked if the shop had seen a lot of drunks. One man in the U.K. was kicked out for making obnoxious comments while watching others getting inked -- bystanders are separated from the artists by counters and a rope while work is going on.
Not Ready? Consider a Piercing
If the full commitment of a permanent tattoo makes you queasy, body piercings are also available. My friend, who already has three tats, opted for a nose ring on our sailing. Not only are the piercings cheaper -- $85 compared to $250 -- they take much less time and you can walk in when you feel like it.
Gensinger does the piercings, and he's about the nicest and low key person you might encounter on the ship. He showed the utmost patience during the shop's busiest time on the sea day.
Hauck is returning as an artist on Valiant Lady when it debuts in the U.K. in March 2022. "It's been nuts," he said. The tattoo shop concept had been proposed for other cruise lines, he said, and they had all passed; Virgin deserves kudos for bringing the concept to life. "I feel like everyone else made a big mistake."


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Modern website design is a key element that no website owner can ignore. It plays a vital role in establishing your trustworthy presence online. People may have different things in mind when they think about design components. Some may consider old website designs as modern because they were neat and clean. Others probably want to see fascinating new features across webpages. How do you select the best web design elements? Don't worry. We have short-listed the ten most important elements that can help you shape up a meticulous website design to make the most of your internet existence.
Easy Navigation
Easy navigation is definitely one of the most significant elements of any website design. Users should be able to easily navigate through website options and get what they look for. Try to facilitate users when they move around your website. The main menu should provide links to all relevant pages and minimize distractions. Sometimes people focus on creating a smart design and ignore the important element of simplicity. Don't try to be impressive while leaving behind the ease factor. Your visitor should be able to find the required information without having to reach the chat support staff. Remember, a clear website design helps you lower the bounce rate because a visitor is likely to spend more time on a simple website.
Sufficient White Space
White space doesn't mean to have everything white on your website. It's a specific design term used to refer to 'empty' space that makes different website elements easy to comprehend. Studies have shown that white space has great importance. It makes everything clean on your webpage including, menus, search bar, header, footer, etc. Don't overload your visitor for excessive information. Give them some space to let them breathe. Crowded websites cannot direct visitor's attention to specific actions. Eventually, he is going to feel helpless and leave your website. So, make sure to employ plenty of white space in order to make everything look obvious.
Content is the real backbone and the main reason why a website is created. Imagine a website without having content. You'll never want to stay on a page that has nothing to share. Remember, content is king. You can seek help from assignment online service to get flawless content or advertisement copies to use on different webpages. You can sell your products or services and deliver necessary information to visitors through professionally written content. The modern website design must provide adequate space to present the content in a decent way.
Color Palettes
The modern web design elements don't need to be too vibrant. The color palettes should be simple, yet effective. Never overlook the significance of being consistent with the color palette you select for the website design. Give yourself plenty of time to decide the color scheme. It will become a part of your brand identity. Go through other websites to get an idea. Most of the big internet giants use simple and consistent color palettes.
Typography has an exclusive significance because it plays a key role in readability. You can get fonts in all kinds of sizes and shapes. There are different websites that allow you to see and download different typefaces. Check out all of them and see which font category looks feasible for better visibility and legibility. Information presented in the form of text should be pleasing to the reader's eye.
Top Quality Images
A website without quality images looks lifeless. The correct use of nice images can help you derive good traffic to your website. People who use images in an appropriate way can definitely achieve their conversion goals. Always try to upload images having good resolution. You can always look for the best quality images online using different stock photo websites. Make sure that the alignment of pictures is in line with your theme and design.
Call to Action
A modern website design should never forget the main goal of converting visitors into customers and leads. One of the core purposes of a site is to establish a connection with people who are interested in your products and services. Stuff like free consultations, downloadable eBooks, email subscriptions, free product forms, downloadable whitepapers, newsletter invites are proper call to actions (CTAs). Use CTAs across your website design where suitable.
SEO Elements
Users should be the main focus while finalizing the website design. However, it doesn't mean that one should completely ignore the SEO factor. Ask your website designers and developers to make a room for the search engine optimization. Most of such elements are not visible to the naked eye. Things like title tags, Meta tags, heading tags, and other forms of HTML coding can do the job.
Hero Images
The trend of using full-size images in sliders is getting traction. You can use more than a couple of images along with a brief copy and CTA to appear on the homepage. They can tell visitors about the latest news about your products or services. You can feature hot stuff like new arrivals and clearance sales in there to make the best use of your offers.
Website Speed
People have become impatient today and they don't have time to stay and wait for your webpage to load properly. Don't let your visitor wait for over five seconds. Create your website design in such a way that it doesn't take time to load completely. You can use compressed images and other speed boosting apps too.
These were some of the most common practices that you should employ in modern website design. Of course, you can use any other design suggestions as well. However, focusing on the aforementioned design elements can help you get a fabulous start. In short, a good website design should be equally beneficial for both, the visitors and the Search engines.
Author Bio for Sandra Larson:
Sandra has great experience in technical writing and website designing. She loves spending time in searching for new and intuitive ways to improve website design. Larson has written several guides on optimizing webpages.


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So many people have asked me how to know when a memoir is ready to submit to an agent or publisher.
I guess the thing you need to think about is – what is your ideal outcome? If you want a giant YES, you want it to be the best manuscript it possibly can be.
Speaking from my own experience of submitting my first published memoir too early and having a quite brutal rejection, and then having wonderful outcomes from my subsequent submissions, I wanted to share some advice.
There are four things that every memoir must have before it's ready to pitch.
If your manuscript has these four things, you can be confident that it's ready to send out. The main thing is to remember that you can be as excited to have finished a draft as you want, but don't send it out until it's good!
How knowing these four things helped me with my memoir deadline
Having this four element checklist helped me meet an (insane) 6 month deadline for my second memoir, A Letter From Paris.
When I sat down to write A Letter From Paris, I panicked. I had the story, but it was huge. I'd also signed a contract and had a manuscript delivery date of November 1st.
So I treated it like I was training for the Olympics. I spent April reading interviews with other authors and searching for books which might be vaguely similar to the one I was attempting. I read them. I wrote extensive notes and summarized their chapters and story arcs. I tried to find anything that melded second-hand family history with memoir and biography and studied their structure.
I started to outline my own memoir, moving post-its around on a board until I had the equivalent to a training program you might get ready six months out from a big race. I found everything I could about memoir structure and the patterns they each follow (regardless of sub-genre), and this is how I wrote the checklist I'm going to give you.
Story structure and memoir
Story structure follows a formula, and characters in memoirs are all universal archetypes. By holding your own manuscript up to the light of what's almost similar to a mathematical equation, you can ensure it's ready for submission.
After the first draft (110 000 words) which I did NOT send to my publisher, FYI (never show ANYONE the first draft!) – I let it sit. But I didn't have much time, so it was only a matter of weeks that I was banned from opening up that document on my computer. Then, on the calendar date I'd circled to meet my Olympic book deadline, I opened it up, printed it out, and shuffled around cards on the living-room floor to see how it measured up to the checklist.
I moved those index cards around like Pythagoras trying to solve a mathematical equation. Just like a puzzle, the pieces all have certain spots. Because when you know the structure, you can master the form.
So what are the four things every memoir must have, before it's ready to submit to a publisher?
1: A strong hook
This is the MOST important thing for memoir, and sadly the ONE thing most memoirs I've seen in draft form are missing.
The hook captures people's attention and elicits intrigue and questions in the reader's mind. It's not enough to say "I'm writing about my trip to Africa in 2007" – what made that trip weird, frightening, funny, unique? Why would you possibly not have made that trip? The hook has to raise a question in the reader's mind. You MUST have a hook.
So how do you find your hook?
Look for the biggest contrast or drama or dilemma in your story, and find a scene or a moment in your story, that shows this contrast in physical detail.
For example, in Cheryl Strayed's WILD, she begins with a scene midway through her hike where she's lost her boot. Immediately we are plunged into the KEY dilemma of the story – how does an orphan (or 'stray' as she calls herself) wind up hiking one of the most brutal wilderness hikes on her own – and what brought her there?
We already have questions.
This is the key.
You want the hook to elicit questions in the reader – don't answer everything, don't give mountains of backstory, instead plunge them head first into the problem or issue your memoir is then going to take 80 000 – 100 000 words to explore and resolve.
Make it more intriguing by posing a question and raising the stakes. Amp up the contrast – how are you (the heroine) going to solve this huge problem?
Here's a few extra tips to get your hook:
- Set up the story to come and provide some context (not too much)
- Plunge the reader into the central action of your story and raise some questions
- Make your story relatable, and throw a few odd or surprising details in for extra intrigue.
2: A universal theme
I can't tell you how many unpublished manuscripts remain ignored because the writer hasn't identified how and why anyone in the world would relate to their problem or topic except them. The central theme of your memoir MUST be universal.
What does this mean?
Universal themes are just that: universal. Meaning, they're emotional or physical or spiritual or mental battles that people across the world can relate to, regardless of culture or background. Some examples: grief, survival, health crisis, career leap, immigration… Check out the top stories on the 6 o'clock news and you can see exactly what worries us all. This video I made can give you some ideas on how to make the universal, personal.
If your memoir doesn't have a universal theme, chances are you've attempted to write your autobiography, or just collate a series of blog posts.
There must be some underlying central desire or quest that a large proportion of the world can relate to.
3: A relatable heroine who takes the stage
Put simply, you (as the author) are the heroine of this story. If your manuscript has too many other characters taking the stage, it's veering into biography territory. This was tough for me, because A Letter From Paris was also my dad's biography, but knowing that I was writing it first and foremost as a memoir, helped me not panic so much about getting every single detail of his life correct. The story was the fact that I didn't know his life.
Memoir is your experience. Yes, A Letter From Paris is also a biography of my dad, but because the genre was memoir, every chapter had to begin and end with my experience of getting to know him. This is what drove the story on and I had to take the stage.
You also need to make yourself relatable.
A reader will feel annoyed by someone they can't relate to, and throw the book down in disgust or simply not read any more. This is SO KEY for memoir, because you're pulling in the reader through your personal point of view.
It's as simple as this. By being unaware of the privilege or context you're writing from, you can distance a reader. So make sure you can objectively assess your 'point of view' in the story. Is it from a Christian context? Then you need to address this when you're 'introducing' yourself on the page.
You must clarify where you're coming from in the beginning of the story – the reader wants to know who they're meeting because they'll be deciding whether or not they want to travel along with you on your page-turning journey.
Stephanie Land's MAID, which in its debut week, made the New York Times bestseller list, is a PERFECT example of this.
Land went from middle class to homeless seemingly in the blink of an eye – but what makes her story SO readable is that she shows how it could happen to any of us. This is both what makes her relatable and also what gave it such a strong hook.
You must be relatable. That goes for the good stuff, too. If your memoir is about an enormous achievement (like Steph Jagger's UNBOUND, where she 'accidentally' broke a world record), make yourself relatable by explaining the steps you took to get there (and the struggles you faced).
4: A transformation
Every memoir MUST show a transformation from beginning to end-point of the book. This is why you need to have an idea of the ending when you begin writing the story.
I don't mean rags-to-riches, happily-ever-after, everything is perfect in your life at the end of your memoir. What I mean is that the quest that was set up at the beginning of your story needs to be resolved by the end. People crave a sewing up, a satisfying end-point. So even if your life wasn't perfect at the end of the memoir (of course it won't be!) – the biggest question or challenge needs to be resolved.
Put simply, the heroine of the story needs to be in a different place in the beginning and at the end of the memoir.
The reason memoir sells so well (a quick look at the NYT bestseller list this week alone shows the top 3 slots taken by female memoirists! Michelle Obama for BECOMING, Tara Westover for EDUCATED and Stephanie Land for MAID) is because we all want to know how someone has overcome something.
TIP: begin with the end in mind!


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Cristiano Ronaldo's house looks a happy place to be right now! The football superstar shared some personal videos of his fiancée Georgina Rodriguez and his three children enjoying time at home on his Instagram page. Cristiano's fans were particularly delighted to hear a surprise announcement from the star – the name and gender of his and Georgina's unborn child. He said: "I chose the first name and Gio the second. The name of my daughter will be Alana Martina. I just want to share this with you. I think it's a beautiful name." The clips have since been deleted but appeared on a fan's Instagram page.
Photo credit: Instagram/@georginagio
The footballer's fans were thrilled at the news, with many commenting on the couple's choice of name. One said: "Wow the names are pretty," while second wrote, "This is the best name." Another fan wrote: "I was hoping you have a girl that you had now three boys. She's going to be spoiled." There was much excitement from one fan who shares the same name as his new daughter. She said: "Wow!!! That's my name Alana."
Photo credit: Instagram / Cristiano
Cristiano's 'baby name' clip was viewed over 300,000 times and is a rare insight into the home life of the world-famous player. In the other clips, fans see a radiant Georgina and his new-born twins Mateo and Eva looking adorable as they lie next to dad on the sofa. In the background, the star's oldest child, Cristiano Jr. takes after dad playing football in the large garden besides a swimming pool.
LOOK: Cristiano Ronaldo shows off his insane muscles to his kids – see photo
Cristiano began dating model Georgina last year, and announced they were welcoming their first child in July. Following weeks of speculation, the sports star confirmed the pregnancy to Spanish news outlet El Mundo; when asked whether he was "happy" to have another child on the way, the father-of-three replied: "Yes, very much." The lovebirds met almost a year ago at a Dolce & Gabbana party in Madrid. Cristiano welcomed his twins Mateo and Eva via an unknown surrogate in June.
The gender of Cristiano and Georgina's unborn baby was nearly revealed recently by Georgina's salsa instructors. In a now deleted Instagram post, they wrote: "It was a pleasure to teach you. We're so happy with how you did on your first class. That little girl you're carrying is going to be a ballerina!" A further comment read: "She told us something beautiful… She said she was exercising and listening to salsa when she got goose bumps and her hair stood on end… She thought it was a sign from her daughter and that's what made her want to learn salsa. A beautiful story."


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If you've been thinking about getting certified to become a content specialist, now is a great time to commit.
Content marketing training will provide you with a valuable skill set that is rapidly growing in demand.
As search engine optimization (SEO) continues to evolve in a way that puts consumers before businesses, companies are becoming increasingly becoming dependent on content marketing to achieve high-ranking results in search engines and attract organic traffic.
Content marketing is already a $400 billion industry, and it's predicted to grow by another $471.85 billion USD between 2021-2025.
If you obtain the skills to tap into this booming industry, you'll be positioning yourself as a valuable asset in just about any business that has an online presence.
The Skills You Need to be Successful with Content Marketing
It's not a matter of whether content marketing is profitable — it's a matter of just how profitable it is.
Whether you're a business owner looking to build your brand with organic traffic or a writer ready to be hired, achieve a pay raise, or jump into the freelance world, content marketing is worth the investment.
As you consider which course (or courses) you want to take, be sure to do your research first and make sure your time and money are well spent.
Specifically, you should be looking to make sure a course will cover the following critical skills for content marketing:
1. Develop, Organize, and Implement a Strong Content Marketing Strategy
Writing good content is all fine and dandy, but you're not going to see the results you want with a blind approach to the market.
An effective content creator is one who thoroughly understands the needs, constraints, and opportunities within a given niche and is able to plan a strategy to produce content that will make the maximum impact.
2. Measure and Analyze the Effectiveness of Your Content Marketing Campaigns
Similarly to the first skill on our list, it's important to create a strategy, which includes following up to measure the success or failure based on the metrics you were hoping to achieve.
That doesn't necessarily have to be revenue. You can also look at optics such as website traffic, email subscribers, page views, SEO rankings, social media followers, et cetera.
To be a well-rounded and competent content marketing specialist, you must be able to analyze your past and learn from it. What worked well? What didn't? How can you use that knowledge to improve your future content?
3. Write Compelling Copy Using Keywords Organically
Gone are the days of keyword stuffing, which is the practice of inserting a keyword into a webpage excessively in the hopes of ranking with a search engine. The targeted word or phrase is often out of context in sentences, unnecessarily repeated, and/or just plain irrelevant to the page as a whole.
In fact, relying on that outdated method will almost guarantee a penalty from search engines.
Nowadays, SEO rewards quality content that provides informative substance and reads well. The writing should be geared toward the intended reader, not a repetitive keyword.
That being said, keywords haven't gone the way of the dodo — they're still an important part of content writing, and you do still need to understand what they are, how they work, and how to make sure you're focusing on the right ones.
Keywords need to naturally flow within the text. If you're writing an article on a given topic, you should be able to hit your target keyword and variable iterations without doing acrobatics to shove extra words in sentences where they don't belong.
Humans don't like reading content that doesn't make sense.
Neither do the algorithms that are getting more and more sophisticated when it comes to SEO rankings.
4. Develop a Consistent and Strategic Framework for Writing
You don't need to reinvent the wheel every time you start a new article.
As you gain experience and knowledge about the best SEO practices and types of content that readers respond well to, you'll start to naturally fall into a rhythm when outlining your articles. You may even develop your own templates to use.
Before that happens, it's important to see examples and understand the components that make a strong framework.
5. Build Brand Authority Through Content Marketing
A whopping 96% of content marketers claim that content marketing has helped them build trust and credibility with their audience.
It's a simple yet profoundly effective concept — if you regularly publish detailed, knowledgeable content about your niche, consumers eventually perceive you as an expert in your industry.
And why shouldn't they? You aren't just giving an empty sales pitch with flashy ads. You're proving that you actually know what you're talking about and therefore are an authority worthy trusting.
6. Leverage Content Marketing to Develop Your Own Personal Brand
By the end of any content marketing course, you should have enough knowledge and skills to successfully develop your own brand, if that's what you wish to do with your newfound skills.
Remember, with great power comes great responsibility.
Benefits and ROI of Content Marketing Certification
Have you ever looked back and thought, If I'd had the foresight to invest in XYZ, I'd be really successful right now? (Like the people who invested in cryptocurrency early on and became millionaires. If only we'd known…)
Well, learning content marketing certainly isn't the same as investing in cryptocurrency, but the industry has started to hit its stride in recent years, so now is a good time to invest in gaining the necessary skill set while the demand for content specialists is exploding.
You don't want to be looking back and lamenting about how hindsight is 20/20 again, right?
Here are some of the key benefits content marketing can offer businesses and entrepreneurs:
- Brings in organic traffic: Funneling people to a website without spending money on advertisements is a massive benefit that makes content marketing such a worthwhile investment.
- Ranks well with SEO: No matter how you look at SEO, there's no denying that to rank in search engines, you need to have well-written, high-quality content that's designed to help people find solutions.
- Has lower investments and higher ROI than traditional advertising: The biggest investment that goes into content marketing is time, although many businesses are outsourcing now. And the long-term return on investment is well worth any time invested.
- Creates brand awareness: SEO mixed with an omnichannel content marketing approach exposes a brand to a much wider audience than a business could ever hope to reach with traditional ads targeted at a single channel. With more people seeing a brand, sharing content, and discussing it, that brand inevitably becomes more and more recognizable to a broader audience.
- Builds consumer trust: 82% of consumers report that they feel more positive about a company or brand after reading custom content. Customers have a keen eye for detecting shallow sales pitches in comparison to genuine content that educates and offers solutions.
- Establishes authority within a niche: Many brands claim that they are the most qualified to provide the product or service they're advertising. Content marketing backs up that otherwise empty claim by showing potential consumers and clients that the company does in fact have the knowledge and expertise to be perceived as an authority figure in a market.
By learning content marketing skills through a certification course, you can add all of those claims to your résumé. That's going to make a recruitment manager sit up straight and scramble to reach for the phone or send clients clamoring to hire you for your freelance services!
The consumer shopping experience is changing, especially in the wake of the pandemic. The truth of the matter is, traditional advertising methods simply aren't as effective as they used to be.
People are annoyed by pop-ups and impersonal in-your-face ads. What they want is a real connection. They crave information that goes well beyond the scope of what product a business is selling.
Consumer needs and habits have evolved, which means advertising techniques must transition as well to keep up. Businesses that don't are going to struggle.
Google and other search engines have recognized the trends, which have accelerated in the pandemic era of digital shopping. As businesses catch up and continue to see the value in content marketing, these skills are already in demand and will certainly continue to be highly sought after.
Now is the time to invest in yourself and equip your personal toolbox with the skillset you need to succeed in a content marketing career.
The Content Strategy & Marketing Course
Our very own Content Strategy & Marketing Course is specifically geared toward freelancers, agencies, and entrepreneurs and teaches the skills and strategy we mentioned above that are needed when working in content marketing. The curriculum covers important topics like SEO, building your authority online, content creation, and more.
- You'll have lifetime access, so you can refer back to the course material whenever you want.
- There's a private community exclusively for students to connect in and get support while in the course.
- After completion, you'll receive a certification to celebrate your newfound skills.
Check out our free 60-minute training video for the basics and free downloadable cheat sheet with skills and tools that can change your life as a content marketing specialist.


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Emmerdale actress Nicola Wheeler has revealed she is expecting her first child – and is already nearing the end of her pregnancy. The 40-year-old actress, who plays Nicola King on the ITV soap, confirmed the happy news on Twitter this week. "Thanks for all your congratulations," she wrote. "Still got a couple of weeks until baby arrives. Unless he/she gets impatient."
Nicola Wheeler has revealed she is due to give birth in just 'a couple of weeks'
Nicola's pregnancy had to be well hidden on screen. Her character has recently been dealing with the devastating news that she is going through the menopause, meaning she is unable to have a baby. It is not known whether it will be this storyline that leads to Nicola's exit from the show. An Emmerdale source told the Sun, "Everyone is very happy for Nicola, it is wonderful news for her and her partner. "But hiding her bump has presented a real challenge and the team have had to be very clever in keeping it under wraps. "They also needed to explain Nicola's absence in a way that was in keeping with her character's story – which is the complete opposite to hers. But the bosses are happy with the storyline the writers have come up with and hope viewers feel the same.
The Emmerdale actress announced her happy news on Twitter
"Nicola is leaving in the next few weeks but her exit won't be aired for a while." Nicola is second cast member to reveal a pregnancy this year; in January, Emma Atkins, who plays Charity Dingle, announced she was eight months pregnant, and would be taking a break from the soap. Her pregnancy gave script writers the "perfect opportunity" to send her character to jail, and viewers subsequently saw Charity handed a two-year prison sentence for fraud. "I do have a mixture of emotions going around because obviously I'm leaving for a while," the 39-year-old star said in a special video message.
Emma Atkins recently revealed her surprise pregnancy
"I am leaving. Probably for about a year because I'm leaving to have a baby which is really exciting," she added. "I will miss Emmerdale so much but it is a new little journey in my life that I'm taking on now. Argh! I can't wait to come back - hopefully within a year."


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Howden Joinery, which sells kitchens to builders, was cautiously optimistic about future trading given the continuing uncertainties over what kind of Brexit is in store for the UK in its full-year financial report.
The KBB merchant business said it had taken a number of measures to prepare for a "worst-case scenario" of a no-deal, including adjusting stocking policy for "at-risk items" to secure continuity of supply during the transition.
"As a result, around £15 million additional inventory has been purchased and key suppliers are also making plans to ensure supply.
"In addition, we are looking closely at the options for our inbound supply routes and pursuing appropriate logistics accreditation, including Authorised Economic Operator status, to reduce potential customs delays."
HMRC has repeatedly warned over the past few months that in the event of a no-deal exit, businesses will be unable to continue trading with the EU without an Economic Operator and Registration Identification (EORI) number.
But latest HMRC figures show that so far just 17% of these businesses have registered.
In a rare show of hands, Howden was open about its post-Brexit planning, telling investors that it was reviewing contracts to make sure product supply remains sustainable in the event of a no-deal and modelling the challenges and opportunities "across the entire business", to make sure strategic plans are in place for various scenarios.
It said a "key focus" was managing currency volatility and the potential for raw material cost increases that would be the knock-on effect of sterling dropping against the euro.
It also said it was mitigating against supply disruption by having multiple-sourcing strategies for key products, investing in manufacturing operation, which gave them "enhanced disaster recovery capability" and new warehouse space to support distribution capabilities.
The update came as Howden reported a rise in revenue and pre-tax profit in 2018 and said it had pulled out of Germany and Holland in favour of growing in the UK and France.
It opened 33 new depots in the UK during 2018, bringing the total to 694 last year, but said it saw the opportunity to grow to 850 depots – with 40 opening in the UK and Northern Ireland this year.
"We have initiatives under way to improve business performance further, focused on depot format efficiencies, improving range management and the development of our digital platform," said new chief executive Andrew Livingstone.
"We have put a new depot format into a limited number of depots, designed to enable us to use depot space more efficiently and give us the option to open smaller depots in new locations.
"Consequently we now see the opportunity for around 850 UK depots. Our investment in digital will both reinforce the strong local relationships we have with builders and improve awareness of the Howden offer with consumers."
Revenue from Howden Joinery UK depots grew 7% to £1.477 billion, while pre-tax profits rose almost 3% to £238.5m.


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What is Starbucks' energy efficiency problem?
August 13, 2015 - Starbucks is looking for a saviour. According to its recently issued annual sustainability report, Starbucks is having trouble meeting its goal to reduce energy use by 25% by 2015.
August 13, 2015 By Anatoli Naoumov
Last year, the company improved its energy performance only 4.6% over its 2008 baseline, using 6.49kWh/sf per store in Canada and the U.S. By comparison, the stores improved 7.1% from 2012 to 2013 and used 6.32kWh/sf per store.
More details on the issue here. Meantime, here is a solution to Starbucks' woes.
This problem is becoming a classic one in modern energy management: PR sets energy efficiency goals and marketing measures results, all while engineers are blamed for missing the targets.
It's entirely possible that engineers have not missed the targets; instead, targets have been substituted along the way.
Last time I checked, Starbucks makes money by serving food and drinks—no other revenues to speak of. How can a coffee shop use less energy while cooking more food? And why would they measure energy consumption in kWh/sf as though they were renting out space? The problem is in accounting, not engineering.
The solution is simple: include outdoor space and the kWh/sf ratio will drop at once. How to play the target even more? Decrease space and sell more coffee "to go".
Seriously, though, Starbucks should separate energy used in food prep from the energy used for heating/cooling/lighting. This opens the possibility of actually managing energy intensity in operations.
Until this is done, evaluating any solution is a competition in sales pitches from equipment vendors. Installing new equipment is commonly the least-efficient energy efficiency measure, and certainly the most expensive one. A lot of less-glamorous measures are likely to achieve higher energy savings without damaging the core business, so it is best to focus on reducing load on existing equipment:
• Review whether installed solutions are actually utilized e.g. daylight helps reduce energy use only when paired with sensor-based lighting controls.
• Review whether the use of some equipment can be avoided altogether e.g. use awnings to reduce A/C load, balance ventilation to avoid unnecessary heating load, and so on.
• Review how waste heat can be exploited instead of rejected within the shop e.g. heat shop area or water with waste heat from cooking/cooling equipment.
• Review whether heating/cooling distribution network is optimal e.g. tangled ducts waste a lot of energy, as do those that are improperly insulated/positioned.
• Review whether equipment is properly sized and used only when needed e.g. does kitchen exhaust work all the time, or only when it is actually needed.
When this is done, employee engagement can be considered. This is a whole other story that cannot even be started until proper energy measurement is in place. Otherwise, staff will start serving cold pastries to save energy. Brand value will then be on the line.
A managing partner at GreenQ Partners, Anatoli Naoumov, MBA, MSc, CMVP, has been involved in various areas of business analysis and development for over 15 years for companies in Canada, The Netherlands and Russia. He has been certified as measurement and verification professional (CMVP) by The Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) and The Efficiency Valuation Organization (EVO). He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com . Photos © Starbucks.
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Paperless Work: Comtravo and Circula making business travel digital
Press release from Circula regarding partnership with Comtravo
Press release from Circula regarding partnership with Comtravo
Berlin, 18th of August, 2020. A new record: 190 million German companies sent their employees on business trips in 2019. According to the figures provided by the German Business Travel Association (VDR) employers spent 53.5 billion Euros on this. In recent months, however, business trips have come to a standstill and videoconferencing has become the norm rather than business trips. But one thing is clear: for such a strong export nation as Germany, business trips remain an important tool for success and, according to the VDR, around 83 percent of companies are allowing business trips again - though under new conditions. It is particularly interesting that companies not only focused on the new travel regulations and hygiene measures, but also questioned their previous processes during the Corona lockdown. The aim: to make business travel more efficient and to check which areas can also be digitized.
German business travelers and travel managers have clear expectations about this: According to a VDR study, 80 percent want complete mobile availability of all booking channels and over 70 percent want comprehensive integration of digital payment and billing solutions - without additional effort. To eliminate the paper chaos in German offices, the two Berlin-based technology companies Circula and Comtravo are now offering an end-to-end process for business travel: every customer can now implement all processes from booking to travel expense reporting completely in a digital manner.
Comtravo simplifies and automates the booking process of business trips. With the help of an innovative solution, travelers can book complete business trips including flights, hotels, train rides and rental cars with just a few clicks. Bookings can be made through different channels depending on preference - via email, online booking tools or over the phone. All options are individually tailored to the needs of the company or traveler. For example, travel policies, such as travel classes, or preferences, such as window or aisle seats, are saved to the company's profile and are then automatically selected with every booking. This offers a successful combination of automation and a personal service. The automation ensures simple and fast processes. This saves money. There is also someone to contact in case a problem arises such as flight cancellation or lost luggage.
In addition to booking and managing business travel, Comtravo also offers digital travel expense reporting via the new interface to Circula, a GoBD-compliant SaaS solution for digital travel and expense reporting. This enables Circula to generate automated travel expense reports including any additional expenses for meals. Travelers can fill in their travel expenses, such as hospitality receipts and PDF bills, and submit their bills in real time and while on the road. The travelers are happy about the time saved - financial accountants and controllers also benefit from the audit-proof digitalization and gain a complete insight of the company's costs.
The Software-as-a-Service solution from Circula is specifically aimed at the requirements of medium-sized companies in Germany. Business trips are a central component here. Therefore, Nikolai Skatchkov, founder and CEO of Circula, is particularly pleased about the integration.
"Thanks to the cooperation of the platforms, companies can now offer their business travelers smart solutions for all aspects of the business travel processes and not only increase employee satisfaction, but also effectively reduce costs"
"At Comtravo, we want our complete system to set industry-wide standards in travel management, providing convenience to business travelers and transparency to employers. Therefore, we are pleased to be working with Circula to add a strong partner to our portfolio and to offer our customers an even better service",says Michael Riegel, CEO of Comtravo.
About Circula
Circula offers medium-sized and internationally oriented companies a Software-as-a-Service solution for the digital travel expense accounting. Thanks to its intuitive user interface and AI-based technologies, receipts can be processed in real time and, for the first time, Circula can be used to digitally archive GoBD-compliant documents.
The award-winning (KPMG, Visa, PwC) technology company was founded in Berlin in 2017. Numerous innovative companies such as N26, Onefootball TeamViewer and hundreds of other medium-sized companies already rely on the solution provided by Circula. More information available at: .
About Comtravo
Comtravo is a platform for booking business trips. Comtravo's software converts requests in text form, such as emails, into structured data using Natural Language Processing (NLP) and uses AI technologies to offer the best possible travel options based on previously specified preferences and previous booking behavior. With one click, personalized offers can be booked within an email. Comtravo was founded in 2015 by Michael Riegel, Jannik Neumann and Marko Schilde and an experienced team from the travel and internet industry. Today, Comtravo employs a team of 110 people. Over 700 medium-sized companies in the German-speaking regions of Europe use Comtravo.


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Risky Business: How Can You Protect Your Home-Based Business?
April 1, 2022
With the rapid rise of the gig economy in recent years (and the spread of COVID-19), more and more Canadians are opting for self-employment. Why? For starters, it's cheaper than renting a commercial space. Not to mention all the time you'll save on commuting. And more importantly, you'll have more freedom, flexibility, and creative control than ever before.
But whether it's a passion project turned dream job or a small side-hustle to make some extra cash, running a business from the comfort of your own home has just as many risks as any other brick-and-mortar operation, especially if clients or employees are regularly stopping by. And unfortunately, your homeowners insurance won't cover any work-related liabilities, like client injuries, stolen inventory, data loss, or any of the countless potential damages your business could encounter.
Without adequate protection, you'll have to pay the expenses out-of-pocket. But could your business survive the loss? Could your income? To help you out, we've put together a list of the biggest risks your home-based business might face—and what you can do about it.
RELATED: 8 Frequently Asked Questions About Home-Based Businesses
1. A visitor is unexpectedly injured.
If clients, vendors, or any other visitors are coming into your home for professional reasons—be it for routine services, a last minute accommodation, or just to pick up some files—your business could be liable for any injuries incurred. What if a courier slips on some wet leaves while dropping off a package? Or a client trips on their way to pick up an order? What if a customer shifts around during a haircut and you happen to scratch them? Even if they're at fault, they could sue you for bodily harm since the accident occured on your property.
But location isn't always a factor when it comes to injury. You can be sued as long as your business is involved, even if your property isn't. Say you took a child from your home daycare to the park or you met up with a client at a cafe. If they got hurt, you'd be responsible for their legal and medical costs.
Commercial General Liability (CGL) Insurance will protect your business if it's sued by a third-party for bodily injury, property damage, or reputational harm that's caused by your professional activities or employee operations. That includes all services provided on your premises and anywhere else you and your staff conduct business, like a client's office, worksite, or home.
Don't interact with clients in-person? Even if your business is entirely virtual, CGL will still come in handy for any kind of third-party liability, such as:
- Property Damage: You spill coffee on a client's couch during a meeting at their home.
- Personal and Advertising Injury: Your website publishes a photo that disregards copyright regulations. The artist becomes aware and files a lawsuit.
- Libel: Your company makes an online post comparing a product on your site to a competitor's. The post contains false claims about your competitor, who then sues you for libel.
- Slander: A client overhears you talking about them in public to a friend and reports you for slander.
RELATED: All About Commercial General Liability Insurance: What is it, What's Covered, and What's Not?
2. A client claims you made a mistake.
No matter how careful you are, mistakes happen, especially if you're juggling multiple projects at the same time. But keep in mind: clients can be unpredictable and aggressive. And they can sue as long as they believe there's been an error, even if you've done nothing wrong. What if you offer sound legal or HR advice, but a client faces a lawsuit anyway? What if you're baking a wedding cake and it's ruined on the day of?
But even if the claim has no merit, you'll still have to defend. And the smaller your company is, the harder the recovery will be. With fewer resources in tow, home-based businesses are even more vulnerable to the damaging effects of drawn out litigation and legal fees.
Professional Liability Insurance defends you from allegations of errors, omissions, or negligence committed within the scope of your professional activities. That includes anything from failure to render services to breach of contract to poor advice and more.
Professional Liability Insurance is imperative for all working professionals and businesses. As long as you provide services to clients for a fee, you're at risk of legal action, particularly if you offer medical, legal, or financial advice. But with a comprehensive Professional Liability Insurance policy, all of your damages—legal expenses, administrative costs, court settlements, and more—will be covered, even if the claims made against you are groundless.
RELATED: Professional Liability Insurance: What is it, What's Covered, and What's Not?
3. Your business inventory is damaged or stolen.
A burglary, fire, flood, or other major disaster would be devastating for any homeowner. But if your home is also your place of work, it could be a bigger setback than you imagined. Think of everything you need to run your company. Your computer. Your custom-designs. Your files. Any specialized or expensive equipment. Raw materials or hard-to-find products. Items that you store, either for yourself or for your clients.
If it was all destroyed, could you afford to replace everything? If your valuable documents—notarized contracts, drawings, shares, bonds, legal papers, and more—were stolen, could you continue to conduct business? If you needed to close down for repairs, would your company withstand the downtime? Could you and your loved ones make it without the income? Getting back on your feet after a loss could take days, weeks, or even months, if you can reopen at all.
Don't underestimate the value of your items. Even if you only have office basics, like a laptop, printer, and some furniture, the expenses can add up quickly. If you've got more than $5,000 in business-related items in your home, you should consider a Commercial Property Insurance policy with a high enough limit to replace all of your equipment and inventory.
With Commercial Property Insurance, you can protect your home-based business from damage and cover the cost of repairs or replacement for contents. Sure, you might not get your finished products or one-of-a-kind equipment back, at least you won't have to start from scratch all over again. Some policies even come with special limits for business interruption to cover lost revenue and keep you financially afloat if you have to temporarily shut down. Others may have equipment breakdown coverage for damaged tools or machinery.
But don't forget: in the same way your personal Home Insurance won't cover your business activities, your Commercial Property Insurance won't apply to your personal contents or possessions. It'll only kick in for your commercial assets.
4. Your business suffers a privacy breach.
Most businesses start out as a one-person show; resources are scarce and there's not a lot of time or cash to go around. More often than not, you have to work with what you already have on-hand, like your personal devices, modems, and Wi-Fi routers.
However, unsecured connections are clear entry points for opportunistic cybercriminals to infiltrate your network and access confidential data. Hackers can also take advantage of security patches in the third-party software they know home-based businesses need to facilitate transactions, like online payment forms, video conferencing apps, and cloud service providers.
But in the event of a privacy breach, it's not just the loss of data you have to worry about. Depending on the nature of the attack, your company may also have to pay regulatory fines, legal fees, and business disruption costs. Even worse? You won't just lose your carefully curated design portfolios or your network of clients, you'll lose their trust.
Although you might not see your business as a target, if you handle, transmit, or store clients' personal information online in any way, you're at risk. And if your business suffers a breach, your Professional Liability or CGL Insurance won't cover you—they're not specifically designed to address cyber threats. But a dedicated breach policy can help you protect your digital assets, offset your financial losses, and get your business back online in no time.
Data Security & Privacy Breach Insurance will cover a variety of your expenses following a privacy breach, cyberattack, or other security incident. Your plan may also include:
- Access to a forensic investigations team to help you determine the size and scope of the breach;
- A breach coach who will guide you through the legal process of navigating a breach under attorney-client privilege. The coach will tell you what to report and when;
- Funds to set up credit monitoring and notification for affected parties; and
- A team of public relations consultants to help manage your organization's reputation;
- And more.
RELATED: All About Cyber Insurance: What is it, What's Covered, and Why Do You Need it?
5. You use your personal vehicle for business purposes.
Many home-based businesses rely on their owner's or employees' personally owned vehicles for work, whether that's for visiting clients, transporting supplies, or even just for storage. However, if you're running a business errand and you get into an at-fault accident, an injured party won't just hold you liable, they could also hold your business liable.
And much like Home Insurance, your Auto Insurance probably won't cover any business-related losses. While some auto policies might offer protection for limited business use, most won't respond if the vehicle in question is owned by or registered to a business, especially if it's larger than a pickup or used for deliveries. Additionally, your Auto Insurance won't apply for any commercial products, equipment, or supplies that are damaged in an accident or stolen from your vehicle.
Commercial Auto Insurance will safeguard your business if a company-owned vehicle is involved in a collision, stolen, vandalized, or otherwise damaged. It's critical for all vehicles that used for business—yours, your company's, or your employees'—but specifically any vehicle that transports goods or passengers, including: company cars, buses, coaches, tow trucks, dump trucks, cargo trailers, delivery vehicles, food trucks, taxis and ubers, limos, and more.
In addition to vehicle damage, Commercial Auto Insurance can be designed to fit your business needs and offers coverage for: medical expenses and loss of income in case of an injury; loading and unloading liability for damage to cargo; and replacement vehicles as needed.
PRO Tips:
The right coverage for you will depend on your individual business—what you do, who you serve, how much you make, where you conduct business, if you have employees and how many, how much foot traffic you get, and more. In order to secure the best protection possible, be sure to:
1. Be transparent.
Whether you're making $100 or $100,000, you shouldn't hide your business from your insurance company. While you may be nervous about your premium skyrocketing, it's better to pay a few extra dollars every month than to have your Home Insurance cancelled outright. That's right, failure to disclose a home-based business could result in your homeowners policy being voided altogether.
2. Work with a broker.
Depending on your company operations, it might make more sense for you to add a couple of endorsements to your Home Insurance or purchase separate policies for all of your business needs. But you won't know until you talk to your broker. A broker can help you review your existing homeowners policy for any work-related exclusions, understand your risks, and find the best deal for your needs and budget.
3. Keep your broker in the loop.
Your risks will change over time and it's critical that your insurance reflects your evolving needs. Be sure to keep your broker in the know if you make any operational changes that could impact your insurance, like if your company expands, if you move locations, introduce a new service, or start shipping goods worldwide. This way, you can update the value of your business and ensure your policy limits match your needs.
RELATED: 8 Frequently Asked Questions About Home-Based Businesses
As a Business Owner, you know how tough it is to run a company. You've given up a lot-to see your business succeed. Time, energy, determination. Months, maybe even years, of your life. And if something were to go wrong, your financial security could collapse, especially if you rely on the income from your business to support your household.
And a lawsuit won't just be time-consuming or costly—it could also jeopardize your relationship with your clients and destroy the trust you've worked so hard to build. Without a specific policy, you'll be missing out on the key coverages you'll need to truly shield your business and its assets from harm.
But every company is unique and the right policy won't work for everyone. To protect your business comprehensively, you'll need the help of a broker that understands the unique risks you face. With over 40 years of experience, we've seen it all. Whether you're teaching piano a few times a week, selling vintage clothes on eBay, or hosting a podcast from your basement, PROLINK has the expertise to craft a plan for your specific needs.
To learn more, connect with PROLINK today!
PROLINK's blog posts are general in nature. They do not take into account your personal objectives or financial situation and are not a substitute for professional advice. The specific terms of your policy will always apply. We bear no responsibility for the accuracy, legality, or timeliness of any external content.


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