Islamic Insurance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Islamic Insurance - Essay Example When the insured event doesn’t occur the insured person loses the sum invested in the policy and if the insurance claims are larger than the contributions then the insurance company is in deficit. The above three factors make conventional insurance â€Å"Haram- prohibited† in Islam. However, since safety and security is the basic human need in today’s uncertain world, therefore Muslim society needed an alternative to conventional insurance in order to secure their business transactions and personal interests. Islamic â€Å"shariah - code of conduct† is based on Muslim’s Holy book â€Å"Quran† and the sayings and traditions of the Prophet Mohammed, which preaches brotherhood and mutual interest in order to establish â€Å"just and equitable social order† in the society. Therefore, Takaful insurance was introduced to minimize the risk by mutual agreement which doesn’t exploit the interest of any party. C. TAKAFUL INSURANCE:  "Takaful is an Arabic word, which means â€Å"joint guarantee† or â€Å"mutual co-operative agreement†. Tabarru is the basic pillar of Takaful insurance which means charity or gift†, (International Co-operative and Mutual Insurance Federation, 2005). Takaful insurance is based on the principles of Islamic brotherhood that promotes common interest and solidarity. Both parties share the responsibility with a sincere intention to help the other in his/her difficult time by paying the defined loss from the defined sum. D. CHARACTERISTICS OF TAKAFUL INSURANCE: 1. Both parties trust each other and contribute their money into a common pool. 2. The losses are divided so that the element of â€Å"gharar -uncertainty† is reduced and liabilities of each party under the losses are calculated... This paper explaines why the conventional insurance in not permissible in Islam, defines takaful insurance and further explores the problem by determining the key features of takaful insurance and its differences and similarities with the conventional insurance. â€Å"Takaful is an Arabic word, which means â€Å"joint guarantee† or â€Å"mutual co-operative agreement†. Characteristics of takaful insurance are as follows: 1. Both parties trust each other and contribute their money into a common pool. 2. The losses are divided so that the element of â€Å"gharar -uncertainty† is reduced and liabilities of each party under the losses are calculated according to the Islamic pooling system. 3. The policy should not contain terms and conditions aiming towards getting the benefits at the cost of risking other party’s interest. 4. Both parties subscribe to help the other through guaranteed compensation so that uncertainty is removed. 5. The insurance funds are invested in instruments that are interest free. The study concludes that the chances for the growth of the takaful business are very promising. Takaful products are available in many countries which meet the needs of the corporations and individuals. However, the biggest challenge is to overcome the shortage of resources especially, human resources, by providing training and development to employees about Islamic financial models and retaining competent employees who can contribute to the growth of takaful industry.

Read argument assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Read argument assignment - Essay Example d on their respective research claim that this form of writing is not jeopardizing the written language, in fact it is contributing to development of the language. Puente, while summarizing the writing styles used in online social networks’ status updates has described in her essay how writing in this way has become an art. Humphry makes a point by saying that these abbreviations will cause communication problems, but I also agree with Crystal and Lunsford, that if standardized, and included in the dictionary, these abbreviations can become a part of the language and can be taught by linguists. Whenever there is a change, and innovation, there is a reason for it. That reason may be changing preferences of users or busy time schedules. I believe that instead of criticizing this innovation and trying to undo it, it is better to accept it, and to standardize it for easy usage in future. Majority of people around us who own mobile phones today and have access to online social networks like face book and twitter; are used to abbreviated written expressions. According to one estimate, almost 50% of the world’s population owns a cell phone (Crystal). This technology has brought about an immense change in the communication patterns of people (Puente). The frequent use of services like face book status updating; tweets in twitter and short messaging services on cell phones have given rise to a whole new form of written expression, that utilizes more abbreviations and spells different words in ways that are rather unconventional. Some theorists and linguists consider this as a threat to the survival of English language as we know it (Humphrys). Others however argue that evolution of a language is a sign of it being alive. Instead of destroying the language, introduction of new technology is actually progressive for the language and is adding up new terminology to i t, which is more preferred by its users. During the last decade, written expression of English language

Effect of Azadirachtin on Insects

Effect of Azadirachtin on Insects INTRODUCTION Humans have always been in direct competition with a myriad of insects, pests from our ancestral beginning. This competition for food with insects intensified when humans began to cultivate plants converting the natural ecosystem to an agroecosystem. Also insects serve as vectors of various diseases caused by bacterial, filarial nematode, protozoans and viruses. Therefore control of insects posed a major concern for the development of the economy. In 1939, the discovery of insecticidal properties of DDT (Dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane) by Paul H. Mueller changed the scenario of pest management. During World War 2 DDT was extensively used to prevent epidemics of several insect vectored diseases such as yellow fever, typhus elephantiasis and malaria. This drew attention to the possibilities of more synthetic insecticides and as a result the use of pesticides in various arenas soared from 1940-60, complete reliance on pesticides intensive pest management was leading agriculture on a à ¢â‚¬Å"pesticide treadmill†. The overreliance on synthetic pesticides from late 1940s to mid-1960 was referred to as â€Å"Dark Ages† of pest control. The cheapness and effectiveness of synthetic insecticides threw natural compounds into shade. But very soon other shades also began to appear. In 1962, the appearance of book â€Å"Silent Spring† (by Rachel Carison) showed that pesticide residues were building up in ecosystem with detrimental effects on wildlife and beneficial insects. Due to extensive and intensive use, misuse and abuse of insecticides the following problems were becoming prominent and intolerable (ecological backlashes): Development of insecticide resistance- many insects started developing resistance against pesticides which increased the cost of management. Due to killing of natural controlling agents, the phenomenon of pest resurgence became more evident. Also minor pest were achieving the status of major pest i. e. secondary pest outbreak due to significant decline in its natural enemy (predators and parasites). Ecological imbalance due to poisoning of all the realms of environment. Increase in the concentration of hydrochlorinated insecticide in food chain. Intolerable residues on the food made the food obtained after such treatment uneconomical as it became unfit for consumption and unfit for exports due to high toxic residues. Killing and harmful effects on Non target organisms became more prominent (like birds, fishes and other wildlife). Overviewing these effects, there was an utmost need for the development of environmentally sound management practices. This lead to the idea of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) . A panel of experts put the concept of IPM in 1968. IPM as defined by FAO is a system which in consideration with the present environment and pest population dynamics, integrates all the sustainable techniques of pest management as compatible a manner as possible and maintain the population of pest below the level which can cause economic damage (i. e. below economic injury level). The approach is to minimize the dependence on insecticides and maximize the use of ecofriendly methods so as to cause minimum damage to the environment. Botanical pesticides, thus is an very important component of IPM as They are easily degradable. Dont affect non target organisms, natural controlling agents such as predator, parasites. Dont form residues And has no harmful effect on humans as they are very specific in action. Botanical pesticides refer to the use of chemical or organic compound produced by plants, plant products, which have harmful effects on the growth, development and survival of insect pests. Plants are a rich source of such organic compounds. HISTORY The practice of utilizing the derivatives of plant i. e. botanical pesticides in agriculture dates at least two millennia back in ancient China, Egypt, Greece and India. Even in North America and Europe, the documented use of botanicals extend back more than 150 years before the discovery of major class of synthetic chemical insecticides (OP, carbamates and pyretheroids) in mid 1930s to 1950. It is very clear from the recent history that the chemical insecticides have essentially relegated the botanical pesticides from an important role in agriculture to a trivial position in the market among various crop protection strategies. The total number of 20 phylochemicals is estimated to be 500000, so far only 10000 of these have been isolated. At present four major types of botanicals are being used for the control of insects. These include: Pyrethrum Neem (Azadirachtin). Rotenons. Essential oils. Others are in limited use like Ryania, Nicotine, Sabdella. Whereas Nicotine, Rotenene, Natural Pyrethrins constitute the outstanding example of older botanicals, extracts and compounds from the Neem tree (A. indica) have emerged as the most prominent phytochemical pesticides in recent years. Among the various biologically active compounds that can be extracted from the Neem tree like- triterpenoid, phenolic compounds, carotenoids, steroids, ketones; the tetranortriterpenoid azadirachtin has been the most extensively studied pesticide as 1) it is relatively abundant in Neem kernels. 2) has biological activity on a wide range of insects. PLANT SECONDARY METABOLITES Plants produce a large, diverse array of organic compounds that appears to have no function in growth and development. These substances are known as SECONDARY METABOLITES or secondary products or natural products. Secondary metabolites differ from Primary metabolites (amino acids, nucleotides, sugars, acyl lipids) as: They have no direct roles in photosynthesis, respiration, protein synthesis etc They have restricted distribution in plant kingdom. In a seminal paper Fraenkel stressed the role of secondary metabolites as defense system against insects, pests and other natural enemies. Though they play no role in growth and metabolism they play important ecological role in plants: They protect plants against being eaten by herbivore and being infected by microbial pathogen. They serve as attractants for pollinators and seed dispersing animals and as agents of plant-plant competition. Because of their ecological role, plant secondary metabolites are classified as ALLELOCHEMICALS, a term coined by WHITTAKER. An allelochmical is defined as a non nutritional chemical produced by an individual of one species that affects growth, health, behavior, population ecology of another species. Plants produce an astonishing array of Secondary metabolites. Even a single plant species may produce an extensive pharmacopeia of recondite chemicals. Periwinkle for example contains about more than 100 monoterpenoid indole alkaloids. It has been estimated that plant kingdom synthesizes hundreds of thousands of different secondary metabolites. The no of identified compounds now exceeds 10000. Secondary metabolites as plant defense is result of co evolution between plants and herbivores Plant secondary metabolites can be divided into three chemically distinct groups: TERPENES PHENOLICS NITROGEN CONTAINING COMPOUND TERPENES The terpenes constitute the largest class of secondary products . the diverse substances of this class are generally insoluble in water. They are biosynthesized from acetyl coA. Terpenes are classified by no of five carbon units they contain as: Monoterpenes: Contain 2 five carbon skeleton Sesquiterpenes: Contain 3 five carbon skeleton Diterpenes: Contain 4 five carbon skeleton Triterpenes: 30 carbons Tetraterpenes: 40 carbons Polyterpenoids: (C5)n,where n>8 Some terpenes have role in growth and development Terpenes defend against herbivore in many plants. Terpenes are toxins and feeding deterrentsto many plant feeding insects, thus they appear to play important defensive role in plant kingdom and protection of agricultural crops. Examples of important Terpenes: PYRETHROIDS: These are monoterpenoid that occurs in leaves and flowers of Chrysanthemum species show very striking insecticidal activity. Both natural and synthetic pyrethroids are popular ingredients in commercial insecticide because of their low persistence in the environment. Pyrethrum is the predominant botanical in use accounting for 80% of global botanical insecticide. ESSENTIAL OILS: These are the mixture of monoterpene and sesquiterpene that lends a characteristics odor to the foliage . e. g Menttholin Peppermint oil and Limonenein lemon oil are monoterpenes. Essential oils have well known insect repellent properties. They are frequently found in glandular hairs and serve to advertize the toxicity of plant repelling potential. Phytophagus insects even they take a trial bite. VOLATILE TERPENES: In corn wild tobacco certain monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes are produced and emitted only after insect feeding has already begun. These substances prevent oviposition and kill plant feeding insects and so help in controlling further damage. These also attract natural enemies of plant feeding insects so promise a sound means of pest control. LIMNOIDS: These are a group of nonvolatile Triterpene. Among these the most powerful deterrent to insects feeding known is Azadirachtin. It is a complex limnoid from Neem tree which is feeding deterrent to some insects at as low as 50ppm and it exerts a variety of toxic effect. It has considerable potential as a commercial insect control because of its low toxicity to mammals. PHENOLICS Plants produce a variety of secondary products that contain a phenol group, these are called phenolic compounds. Plants phenolics are a chemically heterogeneous group of nearly 10000 compounds . many of these serve as defense compounds against herbivores. The release of phenolics into soil limits the growth of other plants. LIGNIN a highly branched polymer of phenylpropanoid group has significant protective function in plants. Its physical toughness deters feeding by insects and chemical durability makes it relatively indigestible. The flavoids are one of the largest classes of plants phenolics e. g. anthocyanins, flavones etc. Anthocyanins are colored flavonoids that attract insects to flower and fruits by providing visual and olfactory signal. Flavonoids protect against damage by UV light. Tannins deter feeding by herbivores and it also act as feeding repellents to a great diversity of insects NITROGEN CONTAINING COMPOUND A large variety of plant secondary metabolites have nitrogen in their structure. This category includes well known defense against phytophagus insects as alkaloids and cyanogenic glycosides,glucosinolates. ALKALOIDS: These are a large family of more than 15000 nitrogen containing secondary metabolites with a heterocyclic ring. Several different types including nicotine and its relative are derived from ornithine . Most alkaloids now function as defenseagainst their predators because of their toxicity and deterrence capability. Alkaloids increase in response to initial damage fortifying against further damage e. g. wild tobacco produces higher level of nicotinefollowing damage by tobacco caterpillars. CYANOGENIC GLYCOSIDES: These are not toxic themselves but are readily broken down to give off volatile poisons; well known poisonous gas Hydrogen cyanide. When the leaf is damaged due to insects feeding on it, the cell content of different tissue mix and HCN is formed. HCN is a fast acting toxin that inhibits metalloprotiens such as iron containing cytochrome oxidase; a key enzyme of mitochondrial respiration, thus affecting physiology of insects. Thus presence of cyanogenic glycosides deters feeding by insects. GLUCOSINOLATES: A Class of plant glycosides that break down to release volatile defensive substances, also called Mustard oil glycosides. Found principally in the Brassicaceae and related plant families, where glucosinolates give off compounds responsible for smell and taste of vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, mustards etc. These compounds function in DEFENCE as toxin and feeding repellent. But certain insects are adapted for feeding on glucosinolate containing plants without ill effects. For example glucosinolates serve as stimulant for Cabbage butterfly for feeding and egg laying and isothiocyanates serve as volatile attractants. PLANT PROTIENS: Certain plant protein also interfere with insect digestion, for example plants produce LECTINS,defensive proteins that bind to epithelial cell lining digestive tract and interfere with nutrient absorption. The best known anti digestive proteins in plants are protein inhibitors found in legumes, tomatoes, and other plants. After entering herbivores digestive tract they interfere with protein digestion, as a result insects suffer reduced rates of growth and development. THE NEEM TREE, PROPERTIES AND DISTRIBUTION The Neem tree also known by names like Indian Lilac, Margosa tree is an evergreen fastgrowing tree belonging to the order â€Å"Rutales† and family â€Å"Meliaceae†. The genus Azadirachta indica was described by A. juss in 1830. DISRIBUTION Neem tree is indigenous to Indian Subcontinent from where is has spread to many Asian and African countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mynamar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Iran, Yemen, Australia, New Guinea, Nigeria, Fizi, Tanzania, Madagascar, USA, Latin America, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain and UK. It is now grown in most tropical and sub-tropical parts of the worls. The origin of A. indica is not very clear. Some say that is has originated from Burma whereas others point it to south India. It is considered that it has originated from south-eastern and southern Asia. In Indonesia Neem exists in low lying Northern and Eastern parts of java. In Philippines it was introduced from India, Africa. Ketkar (1967) reported about 14 million trees in India. There are more than 20 million trees available in entire India. In Africa Neem was introduced from India and is concentrated in a belt stretching across the African continent from Somalia to Mauretania. In America Neem trees are prominent in Haiti, Surinam and propagation has started in Brazil, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Nicaragua. Neem trees also grow in our neighbouring countries, Middle East, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. HABITAT Neem tree is a fast growing sclerophyllous tree. It grows well in humid to semi-humid climate. It thrives well at altitudes upto 700-800m above the sea level. Neem trees are hardy and are able to grow in severe drought condition also. They thrive well in regions with less than 500 mm annual rainfall and upto 2500 mm annual rainfall. Neem tree exist in poor, shallow, sandy and stony soil. It also grows in black cotton soil in India. Neem tree can flourish in warm to very hot climates. It grows well between 21-320c temperatures but it can tolerate upto 500c during summer. Ph value between 6. 2-7 seems to the best for the growth of Neem tree. CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES It is a fast-growing tree, reaching a height of 4-7 m during the first 3 years and 5-11m during the following 5 years. It begins to bear fruit within 3-5 years and becomes fully productive in the 10th year, when it may yield up to 50 kg fruit per tree per year. The Neem tree produces its fruits, which are the main source for its production of pesticides, on drooping panicles, usually about once a year, although two fruiting periods per year occur in certain areas (e. g. West Africa). A mature Neem tree produces annually 30-50 kg of fruit, but this may depend upon rainfall and soil conditions. More conservative estimates range around 20 kg per tree; 40 kg of fresh fruit yield about 24 kg of dry fruit. Neem has the reputation of possessing a large number of biological activities which include insecticidal, nematicidal, bactericidal, and anti-fungal. It has attracted world-wide attention due to its wide ranging capacity as a biocide. PESTICIDAL CONSTITUENT OF NEEM Neem tree is the only tree in which every part of tree produces biologically active products which has various properties such as antifeedant, deterrent, growth regulation, oviposition alteration, insecticidal properties, fungicidal properties,etc. Though bark, heartwood, leaves, fruits of it produce these substances in various concentrations but it is the fruits specifically seeds which are of major importance. Neem seed kernels contain the highest amount of the active compound. 40-50 kg of fruit can yield about 5 kg of kernels (10% of fruit). Each seed contains about 1-3 kernels. Till date more than 140 active principles have been identified in different parts of the tree. Insecticidal properties of Neem is due to the presence of a class of Limnoids which include compounds like Azadirachtin, Melantriol, Salanin, Mimbines, Salannol and various sulfur containing compounds. Among these Azadirachtin is the most active and predominant insecticidal compound concentrated mainly in the seed kernels. The Azadirachtin occurs in seeds at the concentration of about 0. 1-0. 9%. It is estimated that 20-30 kg of Neem seeds are required per hectare if 2g of Azadirachtin per kg of sed is obtained. The highest yield of Azadirachtin obtained till date was about 10g/kg of seed. AZADIRACHTINAND ITS STRUCTURE Azadirachtin is a highly oxidized limnoid chemically being a tetranortriterpenoid and is the main component responsible for both anti-feedant and toxic effects in Azadirachtin. Butterworth and Morgan were the first to isolate Azadirachtin in 1968 from Neem seed. Morgan established correct molecular formula of Azadirachitn (C55H44O16). In 1971 they developed a simplified method to isolate azadirachitn by doing solvent partitioning followed by column and preparative thin layer chromatography. However its structure was determined in 1975 by Nakanishis team through the application of new NMR methods. There were some inaccuracies in the given model. Then again renewed efforts were made by the group of Ley, Kraus, Nakanishi and they gave the correct structure by using X-ray crystallography. A. indica produces a plethora of triterpenoids, the biosynthesis of which culminates in azadirachtin. The biosynthesis of azadirachtin starts with a steroid precursor tetracyclic triterpene â€Å"tirucallol†. Opening of C-ring followed by processing via two main levels of structural complexity i. e. furan ring formation leads to Azadirachtin. VARIOUS PESTICIDAL FORMULATIONS Neem insecticides which are obtained from Neem seeds contain various arelated triterpenoids in addition to the Azadirachtin. However their efficacy is related directly to the content of Azadirachtin. These compounds do possess biological activity and they add to its effects. Pure Azadirachtin was shown to be effective in the fields (Mordue et al, 1997) but the natural mixtures of azadirachtin in Neem insecticides may usefully mitigate against the development of resistance compared to azadirachtin alone (Feng and Isman, 1995). The complex nature of azadirachtin and other sophisticated Neem constituents prevent their mass production by synthesis in the foreseeable future. The pesticidal Neem products used in practice include dried leaves, whole seed, decorticated seed, seed kernels, Neem oil, and Neem cake, remaining after extraction or extrusion of the oil from the seeds. Several Indian companies or institutions produce commercially Neem-based insecticidal formulations, such as RD-9 Repelin and Wellgro, for spraying against cutworms and other insect pests in tobacco growing areas; Nimbosol and Biosol for control of whiteflies; and the products Neemrich and Neemark, the latter also as an azadirachtin-enriched granular Neem formulation. In the U. S. A. , the EPA hasgranted registration to Margosan-O, an azadirachtin-enriched, concentrated Neem seed kernel extract formulation, for use on non food crops and ornamentals. Margosan-0 was developed by R. Larson of Vikwood Botanicals Inc. at Sheboygan, WI, in colla boration with the USDA Agricultural Research Center at Beltsville, MD. The rights to this product, which contains 0. 3% azadirachtin and 14%Neem oil (the 0 in the name of the product stands for oil), and has an oral toxicity in excess of 5,000 mg/kg in rats. Margosan-0 has been evaluated successfully against an extensive series of insects in the U. S. A. and Canada, Lyriornizu leafminers on ornamentals and tomatoes, cotton bugs, cockroaches and mosquitoes. Margosan-0 demonstrated highest activity against Ostriniu nubilalis , and against leafhoppers, against two species of local cotton pests, Enrias insulana and Spodoptera littoralis. Recently in the U. S. A. a further Neem formulation, developed. under the auspices of the Natural Products Institute, Salt Lake City, UT is †Azatin†(Agridyne Technologies, Salt Lake City, UT). Also, Safer Ltd. , a Canadian manufacturer specializing in environmentally safe pest control formulations, developed insecticides based on Neem. Safer , however, has been acquired recently by Ringer Corp. , Minneapolis, MN, which distributes Margosan-0 in the home garden market under the tradenames of â€Å"Bioneem† and â€Å"Neemesis†. Contrary to registration practices in use until now, no precise chemical descriptions of all the ingredients of Margosan-0 were required, but rather, demonstration of the biological activity and innocuousness of the whole mixture to no target organisms was used in the registration process. Hopefully such specially tailored toxicity studies will be used to judge and register Neem and similar natural products in the future. A recent report claims that the EPA has approved a Neem-based biological pesticide developed by an Indian company for use on a wide range of food crops. MODES OF ACTION Major modes of action of azadirachtin are: Powerful IGR. Feeding Deterrant. Oviposition Deterrant. These are the three modes of action of azadirachtin which make azadirachtin much sought after biopesticide in todays agriculture industry. IGR: Azadirachtin acts as a powerful growth regulator for insects and this IGR effect is the most pronounced mode of action of Azadirachtin. Normally IGR effect the hormonal system of insects, preventing the insects from developing into normal mature insects. This IGR property of Azadirachtin doesnot leads to immediate death of insects, pests. Azadirachtin as an IGR: The IGR property of Azadirachtin arise due to the fact that: Azadirachtin is structurally analogous to natural hormone Ecdysone. As Ecdysone regulates the development of insect, any disruption in its balance leads to improper development. Also Azadirachtin interferes with the production and reception of Ecdysone at the time of insects growth and moulting. Thus Azadirachtin in this manner block the moulting cycle resulting in the death of the insect, pest. The main action of Azadirachtin appears to be at the release site of PTTH. The mode of action of Azadirachtin as IGR is thus an Indirect Physiological Effect. It is exerted via the endocrine system. The copora cardiaca is supposed to be the target for the Azadirachtin as is affects the PTTH, Eclosin Hormone, Bursicin Hormone release. PTTH release is inhibited rather than Ecdysine from Prothorasic gland. Thus the Azadirachtin affects the neurosecretory cells of Brain. Various experiments show that Azadirachtin doesnt directly act on Prothorasic Glands. In the in vitro culture of Prothorasic (H. virescens) gland showed that the PTTH induced release of the Ecdysine was medium (Bidmon et al, 1987, Barnby and Klocke, 1990). Also it was not blocked in PTTH simulated cultured glands from M. sexta pupa penetrated with Azadirachtin in last larval instar (Pener et al, 1988). However receptivity of Prothorasic gland to PTTH was affected in H. virescens. Neurosecretory proteins stained with paraldehyde in L. migratolia females when was compared with similar aged azadirachtin treated females there was an accumaulation of stainable material in corpora cardiaca of brain neurosecretory system in treated insects. Thus is appears that azadirachtin blocks release of neurosecretory material from corpora cardiac. It can thus be concluded that Azadirachtin does block the release of peptide hormones from brain neurosecretory cell corpora cardiac complex. Azadirachtin also exhibit IGR effect by altering the titre of Juvenile Hormone (JH). Azadirachtin affects the release of allotropins into corpora dillata hence block the synthesis and release of the Juvenile Hormone. This block leads to a rapid decrease in whole body JH titres, which is maintained for several days. Experiments prove that in M. sexta larvae, azadirachtin infection on day 0 (1. 0-10  µg/ larva) results in induction of supernumerary moults (Sch et al, 1985; Beckage et al, 1988) presumably due to an inhibition and subsequent delay in JH titre. In adult female L. migratolia also azadirachtin treatment causes a rapid decrease in juvenile hormone titres with associated disturbances in oogenesis (Rembold, 1984; Rembold et al, 1987). Thus, on a conclusionary note, the effect of azadirachtin is both dose and time dependent. It prevents both apolysis and ecdysis and thus can cause death before the moults, during the moults or delays of moult to form permanent larvae. Feeding Deterrance: Feeding behavior is both dependent on chemical senses stimulated due to contact chemoreceptors on trasi, mouthparts and oral activity and integration of the sensory code with the CNS. Azadirachtin acts as feeding deterrant. Inhibition of the feeding behavior occurs: There are receptors present on and around mouthparts of insects which normally respond to Phagostimulants. So azadirachtin may act by blocking the input from these receptors. Also there are present specific â€Å"deterrent cells† in insects which prevent insect from feeding. Azadirachtin acts to stimulate these â€Å"deterrent cells† leading to feeding deterrence. Many experiments were done in this regard. Using different concentration of sucrose and azadirachtin, either singly or together, the neurophysiological responses from  ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­medial and lateral sensillia styloconica of maxillae showed different group of receptors are receptive to sucrose (sugar cells) or azadirachtin (deterrent cell) in S. exempta and M. brassicae in most of the cases, the rate of firing of sugar sensitive cells were reduced in presence of both chemicals (Simmonds and Blaney, 1984). Such an interaction was also found in P. brassicae. This leads to a reduced or complete inhibition of feeding. Direct mode of action: Incorporation of azadirachtin results in direct toxic effect after ingestion. Azadirachtin prevents the secretion of Proteolytic enzymes and thus significantly impair ability of insects to digest and absorb nitrogenous food. When azadirachtin is ingested it can result in the disfunctioning of gut, as a result of which midgut epithelial cells become round. Swelling of cells and organells occur with some vacuolization and cell burst resulting in necrosis (as observed in S. gregarea and L. migratolia Naseruddin and Mordue (Luntz), 1993a; Cottee, 1984). There is also reduction in the regenerative cells and increase in the connective tissue layer with some invading heomocytes. This would lead to disruption of enzyme secretion and nutrient absorption. Also the antifeedant effect can be attributed to the action of azadirachtin on the peristaltic movement of gut wall. The gut of treated insects lack tone, midgut to hindgut junction becomes flaccid and co-ordinated peristalsis is lacking which leads to antifeeding behavior. EFFECT OF AZADIRACHTIN ON INSECTS Effects on Feeding Azadirachtin is a classical example of a natural plant defence chemical affecting feeding. Antifeedancy is the major insecticidal effect of Azadirachtin. Antifeedant effect in insect pest on application of Azadirachtin is divided into two main categories: Primary Antifeedancy: It refers to the deterrence of feeding in insects. Primary Antifeedancy is also called Gustatory antifeedancy. It can be defined as the inability to ingest resulting from the perception of antifeedant at a sensory level (Schmutterer 1985). Insects fail to eat treated crops and as starvation ensued results in the death of insects. Secondary Antifeedant effect: It refers to the non-feeding after the ingestion of treated plant. Secondary antifeedancy is also called Non-Gustatory antifeedancy. It can be defined as the reduction in food consumption and digestive efficiency subsequent to and as a consequence of ingestion, application or injection of antifeedant (Schmutterer, 1985). Experiments conducted in the past in this regard by various persons: The first detailed experiment was conducted in S. gregaria (desert locusts) in India. Insects from different orders show marked difference in their response to azadirachtin. (Table 1) Lepidopteras showed extreme sensitivity to azadirachtin and depending upon species, effective anti-feedance was observed from less than 1 to 50 ppm. Hemiptera (Homoptera), Coleoptera are less sensitive to azadirachtin with 100 % antifeedancy observed at 100-600 ppm. However, in Orthoptera wide range of sensitivity has been observed. Reed and Pierce in 1981 tested the repellant effect of Neem extract to striped cucumber beetle (A. vittateim), by cutting leaves and dipping them in extract solution and placing them in a dish with untreated leaf pieces. When 5 fasting beetles were placed in a dish, 0. 1 % azadirachtin gave protection for atleast three days. The intake of food by various homopteran insects Nilaparvata lugens, Nephotettix virescens was significantly reduced on rice plants sprayed with 1-50% emulsion of Neem oil. ( ). In green rice leafhopper, N. virescens feeding on the phloem of neem oil treated plants (1. 25-10%) was significantly less than of solvent treated control plants, whereas xylem feeding increased. Hemipteran insects feeding on tobacco seedlings which had been systemically treated with 500 ppm azadirachtin, were shown initially to feed normally but, after termination of the initial feed, the interval prior to the next subsequent feed was significantly increased and feeding activity thereafter was suppressed (Nisbetet al. 1993). When azadirachtun was impregnated on discs at a concentration of 0. 1-10 ppm, S. littoralis(African cotton leafworm),Spodoptera frugiperda(J. E. Smith) (fall armyworm),Heliothis virescens(F. ) (Tobacco budworm) andHelicoverpa armigera(Hà ¼b. ) (Old world bollworm) showed significant beh avior response and are prevented from feeding on the discs dependent on species (Blaney et al. 1990, Simmonds et al. 1990, Mordue (Luntz) et al. 1998) Insects from different Orders differ markedly in their behavior responses to azadirachtin (Table 1). Lepidoptera are extremely sensitive to azadirachtin and show effective antifeedancies from

Gauguin :: Essays Papers

Gauguin Gauguin was born in Paris on June 7, 1848, into a liberal middle-class family. After an adventurous early life, including a four-year stay in Peru with his family and a stint in the French merchant marine, he became a successful Parisian stockbroker, settling into a comfortable bourgeois existence with his wife and five children. In 1874, after meeting the artist Camille Pissarro and viewing the first Impressionist exhibition, he became a collector and amateur painter. He exhibited with the Impressionists in 1879, 1880, 1881, 1882, and 1886. In 1883 he gave up his secure existence to devote himself to painting; his wife and children, without adequate subsistence, were forced to return to her family. From 1886 to 1891 Gauguin lived mainly in rural Brittany (except for a trip to Panama and Martinique from 1887 to 1888), where he was the centre of a small group of experimental painters known as the School of Pont-Aven. Under the influence of the painter Émile Bernard, Gauguin turned away from Impressionism and adopted a less naturalistic style, which he called Synthetism. He found his inspiration in the art of indigenous peoples, in medieval stained glass, and in Japanese prints; he was introduced to Japanese prints by Vincent van Gogh when they spent two months together in Arles, in the South of France, in 1888. Gauguin's new style was characterized by the use of large flat areas of non-naturalistic colour, as in The Yellow Christ (1889, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York State). In 1891, ruined and in debt, Gauguin sailed for the South Seas to escape European civilization and "everything that is artificial and conventional". Except for one visit to France from 1893 to 1895, he remained in the Tropics for the rest of his life, first in Tahiti and later in the Marquesas Islands. The essential characteristics of his style changed little in the South Seas; he retained the qualities of expressive colour, denial of perspective, and thick, flat forms. Under the influence of the tropical setting and culture of Polynesia, however, Gauguin's paintings became more powerful, while his subject-matter became more distinctive, the scale of his paintings larger, and his compositions more simplified. His subjects ranged from scenes of ordinary life, such as Tahitian Women, or On the Beach (1891, Musà ©e d'Orsay, Paris), to brooding scenes of superstitious dread, such as Spirit of the Dead Watching (1892, Albright-Knox Art Gallery).

American Identity Prior to the Revolutionary War

Early American Identity Robert Zimmermann Madrigal During the time prior to the revolutionary war, there was a mixed sense of identity within the colonies. Some of the colonists saw themselves as English citizens, while others saw themselves as Americans and wanted a free, self governed nation. The first actuall sign of American identity was in 1754 when Benjamin Franklin proposed the Albany plan, as represented in Doc. A. Even though his proposition was denied it still showed that people were starting to take the idea of being â€Å"American† into account. In Document B. Edmund Burke shows his resentment of how American is being governed. Is there a single trait of resemblance between those few towns, and a great and growing people spread over a vast quarter of the globe, separated from us by a mighty ocean. † He says that he doesn't believe that the colonies should be ruled by a nation that is so different and so far away. â€Å"The eternal barriers of nature forbid t hat the colonies should be blended or coalesce into the mass†¦ of this Kingdom. † He again states that the colonies should not be ruled by Great Britain. After the French and Indian war England was in a great amount of debt, so they started to impose taxes of the colonies.The people living in the colonies had lived in the colonies their whole lives and had never been taxed by the government before, so they were very unhappy about them. The people of the colonies protested against all of the acts that the British government had set. From the years of 1763 to 1774 the British government proposed a series of acts that imposed taxes and regulations on the people of the colonies. The proclamation of 1763 being the first of them, prevented the colonists from moving into territory past the Appalachien mountains. This was the begining of an era of protest and unhappiness. In Document C.Richard Henry Lee talks about how the colonies are all working together to fight for their libe rties against â€Å"every power on Earth that may attempt to take them away†. In Document D. The Declaration for the causes of taking up arms says â€Å"We will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness and perserverance, employ for the preservation of our liberties; being with one mind resolved to die free men, rather than live like slaves. This is saying that they wanted their freedom from oppression. In 1774 The British government issued a series of laws that later came to be known as the â€Å"Intoerable Acts†.These most impacting thing these acts did was closing the port of Boston. This only deepened colonial hostility. The other colonies provided food and money to Massachusets. Document G. is a list of the vast amount of provisions provided to the Boston relief effort. In Document H. Hector Crevecoeur reffers to America as a melting pot, where the ancestors of people are forgoten and they become new men and women. All of these documents provide the f acts needed to infer that there was a great sense of American Identity in the Americas prior the the Revolution.

Globalization and Accountability Essay

A better quality of life has been the objective of societies and nations. This has been pursued since the ancient times to the present. About one hundred years before the Trojan wars, Minos, mythical son of Zeus, organized a communal society in the island of Crete. For centuries, universal justice and virtue reigned in the island. Conditions were similar to the fabulous Shangrila of the Lost Horizon. It was like a paradise for the people. They contributed their individual ideas, talents, skills, and labor to the community for its development, and for he good of all its members. The needs of the people were justly supplied, and they were happy and contented. Plato, the Greek philosopher, designed an ideal state in his book, The Republic. He proposed common ownership of properties as a general rule. The concept of equality of Plato was further improved by Christian doctrines. However, more active and courageous social reformers emerged into the limelight during the age of Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution. Rousseau, Fourier, Bentham, Owen and Marx were the more prominent among them. They stressed the social aspects of the national order, such as cooperation, perfectibility of human nature, and other human virtues. The clamor for equality was not only political but also economic and social. The abuses of the capitalists and landlords, and the great disparities in income and wealth were the primary targets of reformers. The aforementioned economic and social problems still pervade in many developing countries. Throughout the history of the development of nations, only very few have become rich, such as those in North America and Western Europe. Most of the poor countries are found in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In terms of goods and services, the gap between the poor and the rich countries has become wider and wider. In view of the presence of modern transportation and communication, leaders of the poor countries have seen the tremendous prosperity of the rich countries. As a result, people from poor countries have developed the tendency to emulate the rich countries- their economies, technologies, ways of life, and even the architecture of their houses and buildings. However, some intellectuals have realized the disadvantage of such colonial mentality. They have crusaded for economic nationalism to free their countries from the exploitations of the rich counties- and from the weaknesses of their own people. Industrialization has been their dream of solving their persistent problems like poverty, insecurity, and excess population. Even Nehru of India claimed that real progress must ultimately depend on industrialization. Every nation, rich or poor, has economic problems. However, these are more serious and widespread in poor countries. Economic problems do exist because of two fundamental facts: resources are limited and human wants are unlimited. Human wants cannot possibly be all satisfied because resources are scarce. For example, every family wants a house and a farm. This is not possible in many countries, especially in less developed countries. In fact, most countries cannot even meet the most basic needs of their people like food, clothing, and shelter. In the case of the United States of America, the people are capable of satisfying their essential needs. If some groups cannot, it is the government that provides them with basic goods and services. Welfare programs and other social security benefits are made available to the less fortunate, and to the aged. But still, rich countries have economic problems. People, human as they are, are not ultimately satisfied with the consumption of basic goods only. Naturally, they aspire for a higher standard of living. And it is the responsibility of the economic system to help the people acquire it. The economic system of any nation has different factors that are being considered in order to establish and open greater economic opportunities (Soros, 2002). Globalization The remarkable progress in communication and transportation has exposed the high standard of living of a globalized nation. Through foreign travels, periodicals, and movies the peoples of the less developed countries have seen the many wonderful and modern things which have been created by an industrial society like the United States of America, France or Japan. In contrast, many leaders of the third world countries have realized the big difference in their still primitive products of development. Thus, their impressions of a globalized and industrialized economy have further improved. Henceforth, there has been a strong clamor among many of the third world countries for globalization. For years, this has been their aspiration. Through globalization, they believe they can eliminate the problems of poverty, insecurity, and overpopulation. No less than the great Indian statesman Nehru said that real progress must ultimately depend on globalization (Thompson & Strickland, 2003). However, globalization or globalizing a less developed country is certainly not an easy task. There are great obstacles along the long path of globalization. It is not only massive capital, modern technology, competent management, and skilled labor that are required. Well developed commercial sectors are also needed. And of course, the most important requirement for globalization is the restructuring of values and institutions in society. In spite of the formidable barriers to globalized development, it is not completely impossible for a less developed country to globalized economy. There were several poor nations which became industrial economies. They were able to conquer an almost impossible dream through a vigorous and sincere implementation of economic, social, and political reforms. Former countries like England, Germany and the United States of America met fewer difficulties in globalizing their economies because of most favorable economic and political conditions. There are several processes being followed in terms of modern growth brought about by the system and principle of globalization. It must be noted that globalization among the developed countries did not happen overnight. Prior to their globalization, they experience various changes and improvement. The following are the most notable: 1. Economic, social, and political institutions were restructured to pave the way towards globalization and industrialization. 2. There was a rapid technological improvement. 3. Factors of production like capital, labor, and entrepreneurial scheme were made to be more responsive to globalization and industrialization. 4. Substantial improvement in transportation, communication, and electrification were undertaken. 5. Social facilities and services were increased. 6. Agricultural and commercial industries became variable. The aforementioned developments were greatly responsible in the globalization of the highly developed countries. Clearly, their economic growths did not go through a quick and easy process. They laid down the foundation of their industrial development. Such experiences of the industrial countries should provide a lesson to less developed countries that are aiming for rapid globalization and industrialization. However, there are some countries that have achieved very rapid industrial growth. But the other sectors of their economy have not developed as fast as their industries. For instance, there have been no appropriate changes in some industries such as the agricultural industries, public administration, social structure and values among other things and industries. But then again, it can be seen that there is more rooms for globalization even if it means that other industries are left behind. Moreover, there has been a great need for private sectors to be improved and flourished in order for globalization to push through. As far as the economics is concerned, the big challenge is poverty, and the surest route to sustained poverty reduction is economic growth. Growth requires good economic policies. The evidence strongly supports the conclusion that growth requires a policy framework that prominently includes an orientation towards integration into the global economy. This places obligations on three groups: those who are most responsible for the operation of the international economy, primarily the governments of the developed countries; those who determine the intellectual climate, which includes this audience but also government and non-government organizations and individuals; and the government of the developing countries who bear the major responsibility for economic policy in their countries. Economic globalization, the ongoing process of greater economic interdependence among countries, is reflected in the increasing amount of cross-border trade in goods and services, the increasing volume of international financial flows, and increasing flows of labor. As is well known to our profession, economic globalization thrived in the period before 1914, but was set back by the two World Wars and the Great Depression. 6 The international financial order that was established at the end of World War II sought to restore the volume of world trade, and by 1973, world trade as a percentage of world GDP was back to its 1913 level – and it has continued to grow almost every year since. While the founders of the Bretton Woods system saw the restoration of trade in goods and services as essential to the recovery of the global economy, they did not have the same benign view of capital flows. Nonetheless, capital flows among the industrialized countries did recover during the 1950s, and intensified in the 1960s. Rapidly they became too powerful for the pegged exchange rate system to survive, and by 1973, as a result of the impossible trinity – of a pegged exchange rate, capital mobility, and a monetary policy directed at domestic objectives – the Bretton Woods adjustable peg system had to give way to flexible exchange rates among the major countries. Capital flows to developing countries grew more slowly. In the late 1970s and early 1980s they consisted mainly of bank loans; by the 1990s they took the form mainly of foreign direct investment and purchases of marketable securities. And as the volume of international capital flows to and from the emerging market countries – the more developed and larger developing countries – increased, the impossible trinity once again asserted itself, and in a series of crises, country after country was forced to give up its pegged exchange rate and allow the currency to float. By now, the gross volume of international capital flows relative to global GDP far exceeds the levels reached in the period just before 1913, though net flows of foreign direct investment have not yet attained the extraordinary levels of the decade before World War I. It is generally believed that with respect to migration and labor flows the modern system is less globalized than it was a century ago. In 1911, nearly 15 percent of the United States population was foreign born; today that number is probably a bit above 10 percent. Emigration rates from Europe, especially Ireland and Italy, were amazing: 14 percent of the Irish population emigrated in the 1880s, and over 10 percent of the Italian population emigrated in the first decade of the twentieth century. Jeffrey Williamson (2002) attributes a significant part of the convergence of income levels in the Atlantic economy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to mass migration. Whether or not migration and labor flows are greater now than they were a century ago, we are becoming more globalized in this regard too, for migration rates have been rising – and in a potentially important way, for more migration than in the past is from less to more developed countries. All this is at an abstract level. In terms of people’s daily lives, globalization means that the residents of one country are more likely now than they were fifty years ago: to consume the products of another country; to invest in another country; to earn income from other countries; to talk on the telephone to people in other countries; to visit other countries; to know that they are being affected by economic development in other countries; and to know about developments in other countries. Globalization is much more than an economic phenomenon. The technological and political changes that drive the process of economic globalization have massive noneconomic consequences. In the words of Anthony Giddens, a leading sociologist: â€Å"I would have no hesitation in saying that globalization, as we are experiencing it, is in many respects not only new, but also revolutionary. Globalization is political, technological and cultural, as well as economic. The non-economic aspects are at least as important in shaping the international debate as are the economic aspects. Many of those who object to globalization resent the political and military dominance of the United States, and they resent also the influence of foreign – predominantly American – culture, as they see it at the expense of national and local cultures. The technological elements matter in practice as well as in the debate. For instance, the events of September 11, 2001 could not have taken place before the current global era. The communications and transport systems that have accelerated the pace of globalization are also at the disposal of terrorists, money- launderers, and international criminals. On the positive side, improvements in communications and the spread of information were critical to the collapse of the Iron Curtain. People learned what was happening in other countries, and understood that they did not have to live the way they were living, and the Iron Curtain fell. A broad range of critics is arrayed on the other side. Among them are academics, opinion leaders, individuals and groups who see their interests being affected by globalization, politicians, NGOs, and demonstrators – and these categories are not mutually exclusive. To listen to the debate in the terms each side paints the other, who believes that all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds, and those who believe that the world is going to hell in a hand basket. That is doubly misleading. In the first place, many of those who regard themselves as pro-globalization know that there is far too much misery in the world, that there are many wrongs to be righted in the global economy, and that it could be made to operate much better. And on the other side, many – but not all – of the critics are not against globalization. Rather, from NGOs demonstrating for further debt relief and campaigning for greater access of developing country exports to industrialized country markets, to academic critics questioning current policy views, many are seeking a better and fairer globalization.

How to Make Glass Using Your Grill

How to Make Glass Using Your Grill I know, I know... your grill is the cherished hearth-o-barbeque, but if you happen to have an old grill or a friend who has a grill but doesnt cook... or if you are a diehard pyro, you can make your own glass!How does this work? Well, you cant make just any glass in your grill. It needs to be glass that has a relatively low melting point, such as soda lime glass. This is glass made from grinding silicon dioxide (sand) with borax, washing soda or lime. Youre still going to need about 2000Â °F to make the glass, but if the ancients could do it, so can you. They would have used a fire with a bellows, but you can use a charcoal fire that is fed air using a vacuum cleaner.If you want to try this project, you can get details and watch the video of home glassmaking in action at Popular Sciences website, Popsci.com. Definitely watch the video. Its a spectacular demonstration, plus youll see why most people will choose to use their grill for steaks rather than making glass. FIRE!Colored Glas s Chemistry | How to Make Water Glass

Straight-Tusked Elephant - Facts and Figures

Straight-Tusked Elephant - Facts and Figures Name: Straight-Tusked Elephant; also known as Palaeoloxodon and Elephas antiquus Habitat: Plains of western Europe Historical Epoch: Middle-Late Pleistocene (1 million-50,000 years ago) Size and Weight: About 12 feet tall and 2-3 tons Diet: Plants Distinguishing Characteristics: Large size; long, slightly curved tusks    About the Straight-Tusked Elephant Understanding the Straight-Tusked Elephant requires a quick primer in modern elephant classification. Living elephants are represented by two genera, Loxodonta and Elephas; the former comprises two species (Loxodonta africana and Loxodonta cyclotis) of African elephants, while the latter contains but a single species: Elephas maximus, the Asian elephant. Long story short, most paleontologists consider the Straight-Tusked Elephant to be an extinct species of Elephas, Elephas antiquus, though some assign it to its own genus, Palaeoloxodon antiquus. As if thats not confusing enough, this prehistoric relative of the Asian elephant was native to western Europe! Classification issues aside, the Straight-Tusked Elephant was one of the largest pachyderms of the Pleistocene epoch, standing 12 feet tall and weighing in the neighborhood of two to three tons. As you might expect given its name, this elephants most distinctive trait was its exceptionally long, slightly curving tusks, which it used along with its unusually long tongue and trunk to strip the leaves off trees. Judging by fossil remains, the Straight-Tusked Elephant roamed the European plains in smallish herds of a dozen or so individuals, and was eventually out-competed in its increasingly frigid ecosystem by the well-insulated Woolly Mammoth. (By the way, some experts believe it was the Straight-Tusked Elephant that spawned the Dwarf Elephants of the Mediterranean basin.)

How to Repurpose Content and Make the Most of Your Marketing

How to Repurpose Content and Make the Most of Your Marketing As content marketers, we all have too much to do, and not enough time to get it done. We’re also under pressure to deliver high-quality content our audiences want. That content also needs to be distributed across an ever-growing array of channels. If you’re working on a small team, that pressure is further magnified.  When resources are limited, you have to stretch everything you have to succeed. So, how can you produce awesome 10X content when your time is limited? Try turning one piece of content into five (or more). Why Should Marketers Repurpose Content? Repurposing content simply means taking one asset and reusing it somewhere else. That sounds simple enough in theory, but it can get tricky in execution. To really make it work, it helps to produce content with repurposing in mind, so you can easily slice and dice it into different formats. The benefits to repurposing content are considerable, too. When you focus your energy on producing one awesome asset (say, an in-depth blog post or video), you’re likely to produce a better piece of work than you would by dividing your attention across every platform you’re responsible for. By creating said content with repurposing in mind from the beginning, you can reuse pieces of it elsewhere without your audience feeling like you’re cutting corners. That frees you up to focus on doing one thing really well, while still getting tons more work done with way less effort. In this post, well show you how to repurpose your way to content marketing nirvana. How to Repurpose Content And Make the Most of Your MarketingGrab Your Free Content Repurposing Guide + Infographic This post goes deep into the content repurposing process. However, there are tons of different ways you can repurpose content. In fact, there are far too many to cover in this post alone (and once you get started, youll probably come up with even more of your own). So, we thought youd enjoy this bonus guide packed with 50 content repurposing tips. That way, youll have the process and the inspiration you need to create more awesome content in less time than ever. Plus, weve included a detailed infographic on all things repurposing for you to keep on hand as a reference.Start By Building Your Content Repurposing Toolbox In this post, we’ll show you some tools you can use to help with your content repurposing process: Google (free): Self-explanatory. Google Analytics (freemium): It’s free. It’s powerful. We’re 99% sure you’re already using it. PrintFriendly (free): This is a great tool for turning blog posts into PDFs. Paste in any URL, click a button, and you're done. SlideShare (free): Turning existing content into a slide deck is a great way to maximize the mileage of your efforts. BuzzSumo (paid, optional): This is one of the best content research tools out there. It’s awesome for finding top-performing content for a given keyword. (paid, optional): We have a few features in our own platform that can help with this process, too. We'll talk about those at the end. Step 1: Create a Piece of Large-Scale 10X Content If you’re unfamiliar with the term â€Å"10X content,† it refers to the idea of creating content that’s ten times better than anything that already exists. In order to create that kind of content, you’ll need to buckle down and focus deeply on producing something truly exceptional. Focus deeply on producing something truly exceptional.Start With Keyword Research If you’re working with limited time, money, and resources, you’ll want to make the most of every minute you’ve got. Starting with strong keyword research gives you hard data to ensure people are going to care about the content you’re creating before you get too far into your process. Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Content Marketer's Guide to Keyword Research How to Improve Your Keyword Research With Latent Semantic Indexing This is the Marketing Research Process That Will Take Your Content to the Next Level Apply the Skyscraper Technique One of the fastest ways to create a piece of 10X content is to apply the Skyscraper Technique. Coined by Brian Dean of Backlinko, it’s an easy and repeatable process for creating the best stuff possible on a given topic. Here’s how it works in simple terms: Review the top ten search results for your chosen keyword. Make a spreadsheet (or just make mental notes) of what information each post contains. Pay attention to missing information, lack of important details, or types of content that are missing from each post (videos, infographics, etc.). Write your own post that includes all the information a person searching for that topic would need. Add resources that are missing from existing content. In short, create something that is objectively better-researched and more resourceful than anything else that currently exists. There are a couple different ways you can find top-performing content (so you can scope out your competition): Do a simple Google search. It's free and easy. Use BuzzSumo. Sometimes, what gets shared on social media can differ from what ranks highest in organic search. So, use BuzzSumo to find all the top-shared content on social media for a given keyword. This can help you find even more inspiration than using a search engine alone. The team at Duct Tape Marketing put together this video to demonstrate how it works and help you get started: While success isn’t guaranteed, if you follow this process correctly, you should start to see results. Recommended Reading: How to Improve Your Content With the Skyscraper Technique Craft a Solid Outline Here at , we never write a blog post without an outline. They’re essential for saving time by figuring out what you’ll cover, before getting started and realizing your ideas are a disorganized mess. Plus, outlines also make it easier to break your post down into sections so you can think more clearly about how each piece might be reused somewhere else. Recommended Reading: The 10-Minute, 10-Step Solution for the Best Blog Outline Then, Write the Crap Out of Your Blog Post Remember, our goal here is to start off with one awesome 10X piece of content. An ordinary, run-of-the-mill blog post isn’t going to cut it here. You’ll need to dig deep and produce something truly great. Furthermore, you’ll need to write while keeping repurposing in mind. Your post should: Be substantial. That’s probably going to mean it’s at least 1,500 to 3,000 words in length. That’s not because longer posts are inherently better, but because you’re probably going to need that kind of length to include all the information your post will need. Be relevant. Make sure you’ve selected keywords and a topic your audience cares about. One idea here is to look through your Google Analytics account, see which content has received the most traffic or conversions and try coming up with something similar. Be better than anything else that currently exists. This is a tall order, but it might be more achievable than you think. We’ll get into this in our next section. Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Blog Writing Process to Create Killer Posts How to Write a Blog Post: Your 5-Point Checklist to Rock a Perfect Post Design Visual Content You Can Use Elsewhere Whether you’re creating your own images or working with a designer, include graphics you can share elsewhere in your post. Those could include: Quote graphics Infographics Instructional images and how-to illustrations Blog title header graphics Stat graphics The key is to create graphics that both: Can be embedded inline in your post. Makes sense in context on your social channels. Here's an example of a tweet from our Twitter profile that uses an instructional graphic from this blog post: Heres how to build new marketing habits https://t.co/F08Y2Vq3sG pic.twitter.com/2IfOluQdrz (@) February 19, 2017 Here's another one for a landing page, where we took the page's header graphic and made a Twitter-friendly version: We put together over 100 free templates just for you with our new marketing resource library! 📚 https://t.co/hWVVfr8Cww pic.twitter.com/nVWEzRUBw0 (@) February 21, 2017 We’ll cover this further in a bit, but for now, take a look through this post (or most others on our blog) for more examples of what we’re talking about. Recommended Reading: How to Make the Best Social Media Images the Easy Way How to Attract an Audience With the Best Blog Photography Tips (+128 Images) How to Make the Best Blog Graphics (For Non-Designers) Step 2: Optimize Your Post for Repurposing Now that you’ve got a draft of your post complete, let’s see how we can use pieces of it on other channels and platforms. Use Your Email Introduction in Your Email Newsletters Consider crafting your intro with an email-friendly conversational tone. That way, you can easily copy and paste it into your email software, tweaking it slightly as necessary. This will likely only work if your emails are text-heavy rather than image-based. If you send a lot of plain text emails though, this can be an immense time-saver. Recommended Reading: How to Write Irresistible Blog Post Introductions That'll Keep Your Readers Reading Turn Your Blog Post Into Inspiration for a YouTube Video You’ve heard the cliche that a picture is worth a thousand words. That means video has to be worth like, what, half a library? Well, something like that. Anyway, what we’re getting at here is if someone wants to read about a topic, someone probably wants to watch a video about it, too. So, shoot a video based on your blog post. That’s something we’ve done in the past with our video series, and it makes time spent on ideation go a lot quicker: You can even use your blog post as the basis for your script (if you’ll be scripting out your post). If you’re wondering exactly how you could turn a blog post into a video, try this: Break down the main points of your blog post. Ask yourself, â€Å"What are the main takeaways I want someone to learn from reading this?† List them out. Write a condensed script or outline that you could read through in under ten minutes (give or take). Shoot your video. If you don’t have access to a videographer or professional gear, use your phone. Get something together that will show your audience what you’re trying to tell them with your blog post. Recommended Reading:  How to Make a Video Content Marketing Strategy to Boost Your New Series Reuse Your YouTube Video on Facebook and Twitter Alternately, you might want to shoot your video natively for Facebook or Twitter. For our purposes here, let’s say you’ve shot a five-minute video for YouTube. If you wanted to get further mileage out of it, consider sharing that video directly on Facebook too, or break it down into smaller chunks and create a mini-video series for Twitter. Recommended Reading: How to Get Started With Twitter Video Marketing How to Do Facebook Video Marketing the Right Way Use Your Blog Post Intro For Your YouTube Description If you created a video to include in your blog post, use your introduction for your YouTube description. Substantive YouTube descriptions are important for a few reasons, including: Improving your YouTube SEO. Clearly communicating to viewers what your video is about. Giving your YouTube videos a clean, complete, and professional appearance. Like reusing blog post content for email, feel free to adjust your wording as necessary to work within the context of a YouTube description. At the very least, your blog post can give you a solid foundation to dramatically cut down on writing time for YouTube. For example, the description we used for this video ... ... came straight from the introduction to the blog post we created for it: Reuse Graphics on Social Media When you’re creating graphics for your blog post, create a few different versions sized appropriately for your social networks. If you need a primer on the best sizes for every network, we’ve got you covered. Also, consider which types of graphics you could both embed in your blog, and share on social media. Long infographics are great for Pinterest, while quote graphics and images with quick stats are a good fit for Twitter. Here's an example of a blog post graphic we repurposed on Twitter: #Content tip: get more ideas by leveraging expertise outside your marketing department. https://t.co/TeMRAAyz4r pic.twitter.com/n5igyugwQJ - (@) July 14, 2017 How to Repurpose Content and Make the Most of Your Marketing As content marketers, we all have too much to do, and not enough time to get it done. We’re also under pressure to deliver high-quality content our audiences want. That content also needs to be distributed across an ever-growing array of channels. If you’re working on a small team, that pressure is further magnified.  When resources are limited, you have to stretch everything you have to succeed. So, how can you produce awesome 10X content when your time is limited? Try turning one piece of content into five (or more). Why Should Marketers Repurpose Content? Repurposing content simply means taking one asset and reusing it somewhere else. That sounds simple enough in theory, but it can get tricky in execution. To really make it work, it helps to produce content with repurposing in mind, so you can easily slice and dice it into different formats. The benefits to repurposing content are considerable, too. When you focus your energy on producing one awesome asset (say, an in-depth blog post or video), you’re likely to produce a better piece of work than you would by dividing your attention across every platform you’re responsible for. By creating said content with repurposing in mind from the beginning, you can reuse pieces of it elsewhere without your audience feeling like you’re cutting corners. That frees you up to focus on doing one thing really well, while still getting tons more work done with way less effort. In this post, well show you how to repurpose your way to content marketing nirvana. How to Repurpose Content And Make the Most of Your MarketingGrab Your Free Content Repurposing Guide + Infographic This post goes deep into the content repurposing process. However, there are tons of different ways you can repurpose content. In fact, there are far too many to cover in this post alone (and once you get started, youll probably come up with even more of your own). So, we thought youd enjoy this bonus guide packed with 50 content repurposing tips. That way, youll have the process and the inspiration you need to create more awesome content in less time than ever. Plus, weve included a detailed infographic on all things repurposing for you to keep on hand as a reference.Start By Building Your Content Repurposing Toolbox In this post, we’ll show you some tools you can use to help with your content repurposing process: Google (free): Self-explanatory. Google Analytics (freemium): It’s free. It’s powerful. We’re 99% sure you’re already using it. PrintFriendly (free): This is a great tool for turning blog posts into PDFs. Paste in any URL, click a button, and you're done. SlideShare (free): Turning existing content into a slide deck is a great way to maximize the mileage of your efforts. BuzzSumo (paid, optional): This is one of the best content research tools out there. It’s awesome for finding top-performing content for a given keyword. (paid, optional): We have a few features in our own platform that can help with this process, too. We'll talk about those at the end. Step 1: Create a Piece of Large-Scale 10X Content If you’re unfamiliar with the term â€Å"10X content,† it refers to the idea of creating content that’s ten times better than anything that already exists. In order to create that kind of content, you’ll need to buckle down and focus deeply on producing something truly exceptional. Focus deeply on producing something truly exceptional.Start With Keyword Research If you’re working with limited time, money, and resources, you’ll want to make the most of every minute you’ve got. Starting with strong keyword research gives you hard data to ensure people are going to care about the content you’re creating before you get too far into your process. Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Content Marketer's Guide to Keyword Research How to Improve Your Keyword Research With Latent Semantic Indexing This is the Marketing Research Process That Will Take Your Content to the Next Level Apply the Skyscraper Technique One of the fastest ways to create a piece of 10X content is to apply the Skyscraper Technique. Coined by Brian Dean of Backlinko, it’s an easy and repeatable process for creating the best stuff possible on a given topic. Here’s how it works in simple terms: Review the top ten search results for your chosen keyword. Make a spreadsheet (or just make mental notes) of what information each post contains. Pay attention to missing information, lack of important details, or types of content that are missing from each post (videos, infographics, etc.). Write your own post that includes all the information a person searching for that topic would need. Add resources that are missing from existing content. In short, create something that is objectively better-researched and more resourceful than anything else that currently exists. There are a couple different ways you can find top-performing content (so you can scope out your competition): Do a simple Google search. It's free and easy. Use BuzzSumo. Sometimes, what gets shared on social media can differ from what ranks highest in organic search. So, use BuzzSumo to find all the top-shared content on social media for a given keyword. This can help you find even more inspiration than using a search engine alone. The team at Duct Tape Marketing put together this video to demonstrate how it works and help you get started: While success isn’t guaranteed, if you follow this process correctly, you should start to see results. Recommended Reading: How to Improve Your Content With the Skyscraper Technique Craft a Solid Outline Here at , we never write a blog post without an outline. They’re essential for saving time by figuring out what you’ll cover, before getting started and realizing your ideas are a disorganized mess. Plus, outlines also make it easier to break your post down into sections so you can think more clearly about how each piece might be reused somewhere else. Recommended Reading: The 10-Minute, 10-Step Solution for the Best Blog Outline Then, Write the Crap Out of Your Blog Post Remember, our goal here is to start off with one awesome 10X piece of content. An ordinary, run-of-the-mill blog post isn’t going to cut it here. You’ll need to dig deep and produce something truly great. Furthermore, you’ll need to write while keeping repurposing in mind. Your post should: Be substantial. That’s probably going to mean it’s at least 1,500 to 3,000 words in length. That’s not because longer posts are inherently better, but because you’re probably going to need that kind of length to include all the information your post will need. Be relevant. Make sure you’ve selected keywords and a topic your audience cares about. One idea here is to look through your Google Analytics account, see which content has received the most traffic or conversions and try coming up with something similar. Be better than anything else that currently exists. This is a tall order, but it might be more achievable than you think. We’ll get into this in our next section. Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Blog Writing Process to Create Killer Posts How to Write a Blog Post: Your 5-Point Checklist to Rock a Perfect Post Design Visual Content You Can Use Elsewhere Whether you’re creating your own images or working with a designer, include graphics you can share elsewhere in your post. Those could include: Quote graphics Infographics Instructional images and how-to illustrations Blog title header graphics Stat graphics The key is to create graphics that both: Can be embedded inline in your post. Makes sense in context on your social channels. Here's an example of a tweet from our Twitter profile that uses an instructional graphic from this blog post: Heres how to build new marketing habits https://t.co/F08Y2Vq3sG pic.twitter.com/2IfOluQdrz (@) February 19, 2017 Here's another one for a landing page, where we took the page's header graphic and made a Twitter-friendly version: We put together over 100 free templates just for you with our new marketing resource library! 📚 https://t.co/hWVVfr8Cww pic.twitter.com/nVWEzRUBw0 (@) February 21, 2017 We’ll cover this further in a bit, but for now, take a look through this post (or most others on our blog) for more examples of what we’re talking about. Recommended Reading: How to Make the Best Social Media Images the Easy Way How to Attract an Audience With the Best Blog Photography Tips (+128 Images) How to Make the Best Blog Graphics (For Non-Designers) Step 2: Optimize Your Post for Repurposing Now that you’ve got a draft of your post complete, let’s see how we can use pieces of it on other channels and platforms. Use Your Email Introduction in Your Email Newsletters Consider crafting your intro with an email-friendly conversational tone. That way, you can easily copy and paste it into your email software, tweaking it slightly as necessary. This will likely only work if your emails are text-heavy rather than image-based. If you send a lot of plain text emails though, this can be an immense time-saver. Recommended Reading: How to Write Irresistible Blog Post Introductions That'll Keep Your Readers Reading Turn Your Blog Post Into Inspiration for a YouTube Video You’ve heard the cliche that a picture is worth a thousand words. That means video has to be worth like, what, half a library? Well, something like that. Anyway, what we’re getting at here is if someone wants to read about a topic, someone probably wants to watch a video about it, too. So, shoot a video based on your blog post. That’s something we’ve done in the past with our video series, and it makes time spent on ideation go a lot quicker: You can even use your blog post as the basis for your script (if you’ll be scripting out your post). If you’re wondering exactly how you could turn a blog post into a video, try this: Break down the main points of your blog post. Ask yourself, â€Å"What are the main takeaways I want someone to learn from reading this?† List them out. Write a condensed script or outline that you could read through in under ten minutes (give or take). Shoot your video. If you don’t have access to a videographer or professional gear, use your phone. Get something together that will show your audience what you’re trying to tell them with your blog post. Recommended Reading:  How to Make a Video Content Marketing Strategy to Boost Your New Series Reuse Your YouTube Video on Facebook and Twitter Alternately, you might want to shoot your video natively for Facebook or Twitter. For our purposes here, let’s say you’ve shot a five-minute video for YouTube. If you wanted to get further mileage out of it, consider sharing that video directly on Facebook too, or break it down into smaller chunks and create a mini-video series for Twitter. Recommended Reading: How to Get Started With Twitter Video Marketing How to Do Facebook Video Marketing the Right Way Use Your Blog Post Intro For Your YouTube Description If you created a video to include in your blog post, use your introduction for your YouTube description. Substantive YouTube descriptions are important for a few reasons, including: Improving your YouTube SEO. Clearly communicating to viewers what your video is about. Giving your YouTube videos a clean, complete, and professional appearance. Like reusing blog post content for email, feel free to adjust your wording as necessary to work within the context of a YouTube description. At the very least, your blog post can give you a solid foundation to dramatically cut down on writing time for YouTube. For example, the description we used for this video ... ... came straight from the introduction to the blog post we created for it: Reuse Graphics on Social Media When you’re creating graphics for your blog post, create a few different versions sized appropriately for your social networks. If you need a primer on the best sizes for every network, we’ve got you covered. Also, consider which types of graphics you could both embed in your blog, and share on social media. Long infographics are great for Pinterest, while quote graphics and images with quick stats are a good fit for Twitter. Here's an example of a blog post graphic we repurposed on Twitter: #Content tip: get more ideas by leveraging expertise outside your marketing department. https://t.co/TeMRAAyz4r pic.twitter.com/n5igyugwQJ - (@) July 14, 2017 How to Repurpose Content and Make the Most of Your Marketing As content marketers, we all have too much to do, and not enough time to get it done. We’re also under pressure to deliver high-quality content our audiences want. That content also needs to be distributed across an ever-growing array of channels. If you’re working on a small team, that pressure is further magnified.  When resources are limited, you have to stretch everything you have to succeed. So, how can you produce awesome 10X content when your time is limited? Try turning one piece of content into five (or more). Why Should Marketers Repurpose Content? Repurposing content simply means taking one asset and reusing it somewhere else. That sounds simple enough in theory, but it can get tricky in execution. To really make it work, it helps to produce content with repurposing in mind, so you can easily slice and dice it into different formats. The benefits to repurposing content are considerable, too. When you focus your energy on producing one awesome asset (say, an in-depth blog post or video), you’re likely to produce a better piece of work than you would by dividing your attention across every platform you’re responsible for. By creating said content with repurposing in mind from the beginning, you can reuse pieces of it elsewhere without your audience feeling like you’re cutting corners. That frees you up to focus on doing one thing really well, while still getting tons more work done with way less effort. In this post, well show you how to repurpose your way to content marketing nirvana. How to Repurpose Content And Make the Most of Your MarketingGrab Your Free Content Repurposing Guide + Infographic This post goes deep into the content repurposing process. However, there are tons of different ways you can repurpose content. In fact, there are far too many to cover in this post alone (and once you get started, youll probably come up with even more of your own). So, we thought youd enjoy this bonus guide packed with 50 content repurposing tips. That way, youll have the process and the inspiration you need to create more awesome content in less time than ever. Plus, weve included a detailed infographic on all things repurposing for you to keep on hand as a reference.Start By Building Your Content Repurposing Toolbox In this post, we’ll show you some tools you can use to help with your content repurposing process: Google (free): Self-explanatory. Google Analytics (freemium): It’s free. It’s powerful. We’re 99% sure you’re already using it. PrintFriendly (free): This is a great tool for turning blog posts into PDFs. Paste in any URL, click a button, and you're done. SlideShare (free): Turning existing content into a slide deck is a great way to maximize the mileage of your efforts. BuzzSumo (paid, optional): This is one of the best content research tools out there. It’s awesome for finding top-performing content for a given keyword. (paid, optional): We have a few features in our own platform that can help with this process, too. We'll talk about those at the end. Step 1: Create a Piece of Large-Scale 10X Content If you’re unfamiliar with the term â€Å"10X content,† it refers to the idea of creating content that’s ten times better than anything that already exists. In order to create that kind of content, you’ll need to buckle down and focus deeply on producing something truly exceptional. Focus deeply on producing something truly exceptional.Start With Keyword Research If you’re working with limited time, money, and resources, you’ll want to make the most of every minute you’ve got. Starting with strong keyword research gives you hard data to ensure people are going to care about the content you’re creating before you get too far into your process. Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Content Marketer's Guide to Keyword Research How to Improve Your Keyword Research With Latent Semantic Indexing This is the Marketing Research Process That Will Take Your Content to the Next Level Apply the Skyscraper Technique One of the fastest ways to create a piece of 10X content is to apply the Skyscraper Technique. Coined by Brian Dean of Backlinko, it’s an easy and repeatable process for creating the best stuff possible on a given topic. Here’s how it works in simple terms: Review the top ten search results for your chosen keyword. Make a spreadsheet (or just make mental notes) of what information each post contains. Pay attention to missing information, lack of important details, or types of content that are missing from each post (videos, infographics, etc.). Write your own post that includes all the information a person searching for that topic would need. Add resources that are missing from existing content. In short, create something that is objectively better-researched and more resourceful than anything else that currently exists. There are a couple different ways you can find top-performing content (so you can scope out your competition): Do a simple Google search. It's free and easy. Use BuzzSumo. Sometimes, what gets shared on social media can differ from what ranks highest in organic search. So, use BuzzSumo to find all the top-shared content on social media for a given keyword. This can help you find even more inspiration than using a search engine alone. The team at Duct Tape Marketing put together this video to demonstrate how it works and help you get started: While success isn’t guaranteed, if you follow this process correctly, you should start to see results. Recommended Reading: How to Improve Your Content With the Skyscraper Technique Craft a Solid Outline Here at , we never write a blog post without an outline. They’re essential for saving time by figuring out what you’ll cover, before getting started and realizing your ideas are a disorganized mess. Plus, outlines also make it easier to break your post down into sections so you can think more clearly about how each piece might be reused somewhere else. Recommended Reading: The 10-Minute, 10-Step Solution for the Best Blog Outline Then, Write the Crap Out of Your Blog Post Remember, our goal here is to start off with one awesome 10X piece of content. An ordinary, run-of-the-mill blog post isn’t going to cut it here. You’ll need to dig deep and produce something truly great. Furthermore, you’ll need to write while keeping repurposing in mind. Your post should: Be substantial. That’s probably going to mean it’s at least 1,500 to 3,000 words in length. That’s not because longer posts are inherently better, but because you’re probably going to need that kind of length to include all the information your post will need. Be relevant. Make sure you’ve selected keywords and a topic your audience cares about. One idea here is to look through your Google Analytics account, see which content has received the most traffic or conversions and try coming up with something similar. Be better than anything else that currently exists. This is a tall order, but it might be more achievable than you think. We’ll get into this in our next section. Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Blog Writing Process to Create Killer Posts How to Write a Blog Post: Your 5-Point Checklist to Rock a Perfect Post Design Visual Content You Can Use Elsewhere Whether you’re creating your own images or working with a designer, include graphics you can share elsewhere in your post. Those could include: Quote graphics Infographics Instructional images and how-to illustrations Blog title header graphics Stat graphics The key is to create graphics that both: Can be embedded inline in your post. Makes sense in context on your social channels. Here's an example of a tweet from our Twitter profile that uses an instructional graphic from this blog post: Heres how to build new marketing habits https://t.co/F08Y2Vq3sG pic.twitter.com/2IfOluQdrz (@) February 19, 2017 Here's another one for a landing page, where we took the page's header graphic and made a Twitter-friendly version: We put together over 100 free templates just for you with our new marketing resource library! 📚 https://t.co/hWVVfr8Cww pic.twitter.com/nVWEzRUBw0 (@) February 21, 2017 We’ll cover this further in a bit, but for now, take a look through this post (or most others on our blog) for more examples of what we’re talking about. Recommended Reading: How to Make the Best Social Media Images the Easy Way How to Attract an Audience With the Best Blog Photography Tips (+128 Images) How to Make the Best Blog Graphics (For Non-Designers) Step 2: Optimize Your Post for Repurposing Now that you’ve got a draft of your post complete, let’s see how we can use pieces of it on other channels and platforms. Use Your Email Introduction in Your Email Newsletters Consider crafting your intro with an email-friendly conversational tone. That way, you can easily copy and paste it into your email software, tweaking it slightly as necessary. This will likely only work if your emails are text-heavy rather than image-based. If you send a lot of plain text emails though, this can be an immense time-saver. Recommended Reading: How to Write Irresistible Blog Post Introductions That'll Keep Your Readers Reading Turn Your Blog Post Into Inspiration for a YouTube Video You’ve heard the cliche that a picture is worth a thousand words. That means video has to be worth like, what, half a library? Well, something like that. Anyway, what we’re getting at here is if someone wants to read about a topic, someone probably wants to watch a video about it, too. So, shoot a video based on your blog post. That’s something we’ve done in the past with our video series, and it makes time spent on ideation go a lot quicker: You can even use your blog post as the basis for your script (if you’ll be scripting out your post). If you’re wondering exactly how you could turn a blog post into a video, try this: Break down the main points of your blog post. Ask yourself, â€Å"What are the main takeaways I want someone to learn from reading this?† List them out. Write a condensed script or outline that you could read through in under ten minutes (give or take). Shoot your video. If you don’t have access to a videographer or professional gear, use your phone. Get something together that will show your audience what you’re trying to tell them with your blog post. Recommended Reading:  How to Make a Video Content Marketing Strategy to Boost Your New Series Reuse Your YouTube Video on Facebook and Twitter Alternately, you might want to shoot your video natively for Facebook or Twitter. For our purposes here, let’s say you’ve shot a five-minute video for YouTube. If you wanted to get further mileage out of it, consider sharing that video directly on Facebook too, or break it down into smaller chunks and create a mini-video series for Twitter. Recommended Reading: How to Get Started With Twitter Video Marketing How to Do Facebook Video Marketing the Right Way Use Your Blog Post Intro For Your YouTube Description If you created a video to include in your blog post, use your introduction for your YouTube description. Substantive YouTube descriptions are important for a few reasons, including: Improving your YouTube SEO. Clearly communicating to viewers what your video is about. Giving your YouTube videos a clean, complete, and professional appearance. Like reusing blog post content for email, feel free to adjust your wording as necessary to work within the context of a YouTube description. At the very least, your blog post can give you a solid foundation to dramatically cut down on writing time for YouTube. For example, the description we used for this video ... ... came straight from the introduction to the blog post we created for it: Reuse Graphics on Social Media When you’re creating graphics for your blog post, create a few different versions sized appropriately for your social networks. If you need a primer on the best sizes for every network, we’ve got you covered. Also, consider which types of graphics you could both embed in your blog, and share on social media. Long infographics are great for Pinterest, while quote graphics and images with quick stats are a good fit for Twitter. Here's an example of a blog post graphic we repurposed on Twitter: #Content tip: get more ideas by leveraging expertise outside your marketing department. https://t.co/TeMRAAyz4r pic.twitter.com/n5igyugwQJ - (@) July 14, 2017 How to Repurpose Content and Make the Most of Your Marketing As content marketers, we all have too much to do, and not enough time to get it done. We’re also under pressure to deliver high-quality content our audiences want. That content also needs to be distributed across an ever-growing array of channels. If you’re working on a small team, that pressure is further magnified.  When resources are limited, you have to stretch everything you have to succeed. So, how can you produce awesome 10X content when your time is limited? Try turning one piece of content into five (or more). Why Should Marketers Repurpose Content? Repurposing content simply means taking one asset and reusing it somewhere else. That sounds simple enough in theory, but it can get tricky in execution. To really make it work, it helps to produce content with repurposing in mind, so you can easily slice and dice it into different formats. The benefits to repurposing content are considerable, too. When you focus your energy on producing one awesome asset (say, an in-depth blog post or video), you’re likely to produce a better piece of work than you would by dividing your attention across every platform you’re responsible for. By creating said content with repurposing in mind from the beginning, you can reuse pieces of it elsewhere without your audience feeling like you’re cutting corners. That frees you up to focus on doing one thing really well, while still getting tons more work done with way less effort. In this post, well show you how to repurpose your way to content marketing nirvana. How to Repurpose Content And Make the Most of Your MarketingGrab Your Free Content Repurposing Guide + Infographic This post goes deep into the content repurposing process. However, there are tons of different ways you can repurpose content. In fact, there are far too many to cover in this post alone (and once you get started, youll probably come up with even more of your own). So, we thought youd enjoy this bonus guide packed with 50 content repurposing tips. That way, youll have the process and the inspiration you need to create more awesome content in less time than ever. Plus, weve included a detailed infographic on all things repurposing for you to keep on hand as a reference.Start By Building Your Content Repurposing Toolbox In this post, we’ll show you some tools you can use to help with your content repurposing process: Google (free): Self-explanatory. Google Analytics (freemium): It’s free. It’s powerful. We’re 99% sure you’re already using it. PrintFriendly (free): This is a great tool for turning blog posts into PDFs. Paste in any URL, click a button, and you're done. SlideShare (free): Turning existing content into a slide deck is a great way to maximize the mileage of your efforts. BuzzSumo (paid, optional): This is one of the best content research tools out there. It’s awesome for finding top-performing content for a given keyword. (paid, optional): We have a few features in our own platform that can help with this process, too. We'll talk about those at the end. Step 1: Create a Piece of Large-Scale 10X Content If you’re unfamiliar with the term â€Å"10X content,† it refers to the idea of creating content that’s ten times better than anything that already exists. In order to create that kind of content, you’ll need to buckle down and focus deeply on producing something truly exceptional. Focus deeply on producing something truly exceptional.Start With Keyword Research If you’re working with limited time, money, and resources, you’ll want to make the most of every minute you’ve got. Starting with strong keyword research gives you hard data to ensure people are going to care about the content you’re creating before you get too far into your process. Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Content Marketer's Guide to Keyword Research How to Improve Your Keyword Research With Latent Semantic Indexing This is the Marketing Research Process That Will Take Your Content to the Next Level Apply the Skyscraper Technique One of the fastest ways to create a piece of 10X content is to apply the Skyscraper Technique. Coined by Brian Dean of Backlinko, it’s an easy and repeatable process for creating the best stuff possible on a given topic. Here’s how it works in simple terms: Review the top ten search results for your chosen keyword. Make a spreadsheet (or just make mental notes) of what information each post contains. Pay attention to missing information, lack of important details, or types of content that are missing from each post (videos, infographics, etc.). Write your own post that includes all the information a person searching for that topic would need. Add resources that are missing from existing content. In short, create something that is objectively better-researched and more resourceful than anything else that currently exists. There are a couple different ways you can find top-performing content (so you can scope out your competition): Do a simple Google search. It's free and easy. Use BuzzSumo. Sometimes, what gets shared on social media can differ from what ranks highest in organic search. So, use BuzzSumo to find all the top-shared content on social media for a given keyword. This can help you find even more inspiration than using a search engine alone. The team at Duct Tape Marketing put together this video to demonstrate how it works and help you get started: While success isn’t guaranteed, if you follow this process correctly, you should start to see results. Recommended Reading: How to Improve Your Content With the Skyscraper Technique Craft a Solid Outline Here at , we never write a blog post without an outline. They’re essential for saving time by figuring out what you’ll cover, before getting started and realizing your ideas are a disorganized mess. Plus, outlines also make it easier to break your post down into sections so you can think more clearly about how each piece might be reused somewhere else. Recommended Reading: The 10-Minute, 10-Step Solution for the Best Blog Outline Then, Write the Crap Out of Your Blog Post Remember, our goal here is to start off with one awesome 10X piece of content. An ordinary, run-of-the-mill blog post isn’t going to cut it here. You’ll need to dig deep and produce something truly great. Furthermore, you’ll need to write while keeping repurposing in mind. Your post should: Be substantial. That’s probably going to mean it’s at least 1,500 to 3,000 words in length. That’s not because longer posts are inherently better, but because you’re probably going to need that kind of length to include all the information your post will need. Be relevant. Make sure you’ve selected keywords and a topic your audience cares about. One idea here is to look through your Google Analytics account, see which content has received the most traffic or conversions and try coming up with something similar. Be better than anything else that currently exists. This is a tall order, but it might be more achievable than you think. We’ll get into this in our next section. Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Blog Writing Process to Create Killer Posts How to Write a Blog Post: Your 5-Point Checklist to Rock a Perfect Post Design Visual Content You Can Use Elsewhere Whether you’re creating your own images or working with a designer, include graphics you can share elsewhere in your post. Those could include: Quote graphics Infographics Instructional images and how-to illustrations Blog title header graphics Stat graphics The key is to create graphics that both: Can be embedded inline in your post. Makes sense in context on your social channels. Here's an example of a tweet from our Twitter profile that uses an instructional graphic from this blog post: Heres how to build new marketing habits https://t.co/F08Y2Vq3sG pic.twitter.com/2IfOluQdrz (@) February 19, 2017 Here's another one for a landing page, where we took the page's header graphic and made a Twitter-friendly version: We put together over 100 free templates just for you with our new marketing resource library! 📚 https://t.co/hWVVfr8Cww pic.twitter.com/nVWEzRUBw0 (@) February 21, 2017 We’ll cover this further in a bit, but for now, take a look through this post (or most others on our blog) for more examples of what we’re talking about. Recommended Reading: How to Make the Best Social Media Images the Easy Way How to Attract an Audience With the Best Blog Photography Tips (+128 Images) How to Make the Best Blog Graphics (For Non-Designers) Step 2: Optimize Your Post for Repurposing Now that you’ve got a draft of your post complete, let’s see how we can use pieces of it on other channels and platforms. Use Your Email Introduction in Your Email Newsletters Consider crafting your intro with an email-friendly conversational tone. That way, you can easily copy and paste it into your email software, tweaking it slightly as necessary. This will likely only work if your emails are text-heavy rather than image-based. If you send a lot of plain text emails though, this can be an immense time-saver. Recommended Reading: How to Write Irresistible Blog Post Introductions That'll Keep Your Readers Reading Turn Your Blog Post Into Inspiration for a YouTube Video You’ve heard the cliche that a picture is worth a thousand words. That means video has to be worth like, what, half a library? Well, something like that. Anyway, what we’re getting at here is if someone wants to read about a topic, someone probably wants to watch a video about it, too. So, shoot a video based on your blog post. That’s something we’ve done in the past with our video series, and it makes time spent on ideation go a lot quicker: You can even use your blog post as the basis for your script (if you’ll be scripting out your post). If you’re wondering exactly how you could turn a blog post into a video, try this: Break down the main points of your blog post. Ask yourself, â€Å"What are the main takeaways I want someone to learn from reading this?† List them out. Write a condensed script or outline that you could read through in under ten minutes (give or take). Shoot your video. If you don’t have access to a videographer or professional gear, use your phone. Get something together that will show your audience what you’re trying to tell them with your blog post. Recommended Reading:  How to Make a Video Content Marketing Strategy to Boost Your New Series Reuse Your YouTube Video on Facebook and Twitter Alternately, you might want to shoot your video natively for Facebook or Twitter. For our purposes here, let’s say you’ve shot a five-minute video for YouTube. If you wanted to get further mileage out of it, consider sharing that video directly on Facebook too, or break it down into smaller chunks and create a mini-video series for Twitter. Recommended Reading: How to Get Started With Twitter Video Marketing How to Do Facebook Video Marketing the Right Way Use Your Blog Post Intro For Your YouTube Description If you created a video to include in your blog post, use your introduction for your YouTube description. Substantive YouTube descriptions are important for a few reasons, including: Improving your YouTube SEO. Clearly communicating to viewers what your video is about. Giving your YouTube videos a clean, complete, and professional appearance. Like reusing blog post content for email, feel free to adjust your wording as necessary to work within the context of a YouTube description. At the very least, your blog post can give you a solid foundation to dramatically cut down on writing time for YouTube. For example, the description we used for this video ... ... came straight from the introduction to the blog post we created for it: Reuse Graphics on Social Media When you’re creating graphics for your blog post, create a few different versions sized appropriately for your social networks. If you need a primer on the best sizes for every network, we’ve got you covered. Also, consider which types of graphics you could both embed in your blog, and share on social media. Long infographics are great for Pinterest, while quote graphics and images with quick stats are a good fit for Twitter. Here's an example of a blog post graphic we repurposed on Twitter: #Content tip: get more ideas by leveraging expertise outside your marketing department. https://t.co/TeMRAAyz4r pic.twitter.com/n5igyugwQJ - (@) July 14, 2017