advice
Workplace advice for any issue, problem, or concern; from changing careers to co-working advice and decorating needs.
The Office Lunch Landed on Your Desk Again? Here Is How to Cater It Without Losing Your Mind. AI-Generated.
Somehow it is always the same person. A meeting gets booked, someone says the words "we should probably sort out food," and every head in the room turns to you. If you are that person, this one is for you. I have been the one lumped with the office lunch more times than I can count, and over the years I have worked out a way to do it that does not end with me standing in a kitchen at half past eight in the morning, sweating over whether there is enough.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
How to Choose a Digital Marketing Agency Without Burning Your Budget. AI-Generated.
I have spent years on both sides of this conversation. I have sat across the table from small business owners who were nervous about handing over money they could not really spare, and I have quietly cleaned up after agencies that took that money and delivered very little. If you run a small business and you are thinking about hiring someone to handle your search engine optimisation or your Google Ads, this article is for you. My goal is not to sell you anything. It is to help you spend your marketing budget in a way you will not regret.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
What Nobody Tells You About Claiming UIF in South Africa. AI-Generated.
If you have ever lost a job, gone on maternity leave, or been signed off sick for a long stretch, you already know the feeling. The salary stops, but the rent, the school fees, and the groceries do not. The Unemployment Insurance Fund exists precisely for those moments, and yet a surprising number of people who are entitled to money never claim it, or give up halfway because the process wears them down.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
I Moved My Child to Online School in the Middle of the Year. Here Is What I Wish I Had Known First.. AI-Generated.
When my eldest started struggling in a big mainstream classroom, I did what most South African parents do. I panicked quietly, spoke to a few other mothers at pickup, and then spent far too many late nights reading forums. Two years on, with one child learning from home and one still in a traditional school, I have opinions but no illusions. Online learning worked for us. It is not the right answer for every family, and anyone who tells you it is has something to sell.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
Brevo: Email & SMS Marketing, CRM & Automation Platform – Automate Your Marketing Efforts
In today's highly competitive digital environment, businesses need more than a basic email newsletter tool to attract customers, maintain relationships, increase conversions, and build long-term loyalty, which is why an all-in-one marketing platform such as Brevo can provide businesses with a practical solution for managing email marketing, SMS campaigns, customer relationships, marketing automation, transactional communication, and other essential customer engagement activities from one centralized platform. Brevo is designed to help businesses automate repetitive marketing tasks while creating personalized communication experiences that can keep customers engaged throughout their journey, making it a valuable option for startups, ecommerce businesses, agencies, online stores, SaaS companies, and established organizations that want to improve their digital marketing performance without managing multiple disconnected tools.
By Jason Will4 months ago in Journal
LegalZoom: Step-by-Step Tools and Attorney Guidance
Starting a business or handling a personal legal matter can feel overwhelming, especially if you've never worked with a lawyer before. Legal paperwork is full of unfamiliar terms, state-specific requirements, and deadlines that are easy to miss. For over two decades, LegalZoom has positioned itself as a bridge between everyday people and the legal system, offering guided online tools alongside access to a network of independent , licensed attorneys. Rather than requiring you to choose between a do-it-yourself approach and a costly traditional law firm, LegalZoom blends the two: affordable, structured technology paired with real legal professionals when you need them.
By Jason Will4 months ago in Journal
When the Mid-Year Report Worries You: A Calm Guide to Helping a Struggling Child. AI-Generated.
There is a particular kind of quiet that falls over a house when a mid-year report lands and the numbers are not what you hoped. Maybe a subject has dropped a whole band. Maybe there is a teacher comment about focus, or effort, or "not reaching potential". Maybe your child handed it over and then went very still, watching your face to see how bad this was going to be.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
The Quiet Cost of Cheap Phone Accessories, and How to Stop Buying Them Twice. AI-Generated.
I have a drawer at home that I am slightly embarrassed about. It is full of dead phone accessories. Charging cables that frayed near the plug, a car mount that lost its grip and dropped my phone onto the gearstick one too many times, and two wireless chargers that just quietly stopped charging. If I added up what I spent replacing all of them, I could have bought a few genuinely good items the first time and still had change.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
What I Learned About Selling Old Gold Jewellery Without Getting Shortchanged. AI-Generated.
The first time I sold a piece of gold, I walked out feeling clever. I had a broken chain and a couple of odd earrings sitting in a drawer, someone offered me cash on the spot, and I took it. It was only weeks later, when a friend who actually knew what she was doing explained how the numbers worked, that I realised I had probably left a decent chunk of money on the counter. I was not robbed exactly. I just did not know enough to ask the right questions. This is the guide I wish someone had handed me that morning.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
What the Water Asks of You
There is a particular quality to a lake at night that's difficult to describe to someone who hasn't experienced it. The cold hits you in a specific sequence — ankles first, then thighs, then the sharp intake of breath when it reaches your torso — and then something shifts, and the cold becomes simply the temperature of the world, and you stop registering it as something to endure. The stars overhead are different out here than they are anywhere with streetlights. The water is dark and very still at that hour, and when you lie on your back and let it hold you, the sound changes too: muffled, interior, the particular silence of being almost completely submerged.
By Bertyl Kently4 months ago in Journal
I Almost Bought a Cheap Treadmill. Then I Learned What Remanufactured Actually Means.. AI-Generated.
For most of last year I had a treadmill in a shopping cart and never hit buy. I would open the tab, look at the price of a new commercial machine, wince, and go do something else. Then in June I finally admitted the obvious to myself, which is that summer was the only time I ever actually stuck to a routine. Early walks before the heat, a run indoors on the days the air outside felt like soup. If I was ever going to build a home gym, this was the season to anchor it, and the anchor was always going to be a treadmill.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
