Successful Business Leaders Tell All: Top Digital Marketing Trends for 2016

What would you ask if you could score an exclusive sit-down with a successful startup leader or entrepreneur? As a solopreneur myself, I’m always eager to learn about the marketing secrets that kick-start a company’s rise to success.

From SEO and mobile marketing to influencer outreach and content marketing, keeping pace with the latest digital marketing trends is a serious challenge. Gaining insight from someone who’s been in the marketing trenches before is invaluable.

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with four startup leaders. These successful visionaries shared their predictions for digital marketing trends in 2016:

What’s Next for Mobile Marketing?

Here’s what Andy Crestodina at Orbit Media, an innovation studio that’s been designing and building mobile responsive websites since 2011 has to say about UX:

“2015 was a tipping point in terms of smartphone usage for everything from mobile search to mobile ecommerce,” said Crestodina. “Now that Google has essentially made mobile-friendliness an SEO requirement, we’re witnessing a major push towards mobile optimization that goes beyond responsive design.”

“Optimizing for user experience (UX) is going to be huge in 2016. In order to stand out in the world of mobile, businesses need to provide their customers with a frictionless, memorable experience. Businesses need to ask, ‘What is essential content and what can be pared down or replaced for a more interactive experience?’ Micro interactions, for example, are an easy way to delight customers and add value to the mobile experience.”

Why Should Content Marketing Be Part of Every B2B Digital Strategy?

Brian Sutter with Wasp Barcode Technologies, a digital inventory tracking company, discusses why content marketing is essential at every stage of the B2B buying cycle:

“With so much hype around content marketing, it’s natural for startups and small businesses to wonder if it’s truly worth the time and effort, or if it’s just a lot of buzz with no substance,” says Sutter. “Content marketing is absolutely worth it, as long as you do it correctly. For small B2B companies, that means understanding how different pieces of content fit in the B2B sales cycle.”

“At Wasp Barcode Technologies, for example, we create a lot of informational content to help businesses better understand the different applications for our products as well as content geared towards best practices for using our products. These pieces fit the sales cycle differently. Information on different applications fits the early stages of the sales cycle when we are defining the buying vision and building awareness; how-to information comes later when we are differentiating ourselves from the competition. I recommend businesses list out each stage of their sales cycle in a chart and match up content pieces specifically for a customer’s needs at that stage. You can’t give customers what they want if you don’t know what they need.”

What’s Next for SEO in 2016?

Nadav Dakner, the co-founder and CEO of InboundJunction and an SEO expert, shares his predictions:

“SEO is continually evolving; the current challenge is to find that perfect balance between creating content for humans while also ensuring it's optimized for web crawlers,” says Dakner. "As a rule of thumb, you should always focus on providing added value to people through solving problems and answering questions". Google cares about whether a website page is useful content that answers search queries.

"Optimizing a website page for a specific keyword is only the first step. The magic comes when you deliver immediate useful content, incorporate relevant images and videos to lower your bounce rate and building a strong on-site infrastructure". It's worthwhile to create dedicated feature pages or landing pages in your site designated to rank for specific search terms and improve your sales and CTR. That'll also assist in building backlinks through better relevancy in your anchor texts and destination URLs.

What’s Next for Link Building?

Here’s why Elad Mor, the CEO at MarketAcross, a digital branding agency, says link building is far from dead.

“There’s been a lot of hype over the last year that Google has killed link building,” said Elad. “That’s not the case at all. Just like with keyword optimization, the key is quality, not quantity. Authoritative links are a critical part of Google’s ranking algorithm because they convey trust and credibility. It’s all about placement.”

“Contextual links are the strongest option for linking back to a website. A well-placed mention on an industry blog or high-quality resource page can strengthen the relevancy and authority of your website. Think of links as professional references: the best references are those with a wide network and a strong reputation that will convey credibility and recognition by the online community.”

Bottom Line

Understanding impactful marketing trends is essential to building a smarter digital marketing strategy in 2016. Technology is moving at such a rapid pace, it’s natural to feel like you’ve got a case of whiplash trying to keep up. From smarter mobile design and link building to a robust content marketing plan and the integration of videos into website content, focus on how each of these tactics fits into your overall strategy and execute from there.

Source :http://www.business.com

My 10 Best Pieces Of Career Advice For Millennials

Giving advice to millennials is extremely important to me because I am one of them and even though the economy was better back in 2006, it took me eight months to find a marketing job. I succeeded because I started six months before graduation, collected eight internships, seven leadership positions on campus and graduated with honors. I failed because I didn’t know how to build and leverage relationships. Either way, I learned a lot about what it takes to build a successful career over the years. Good career choices are extremely important early in your career because you can set yourself up for success later on. Even though you might end up in a completely different career, the skills you acquire and the people you meet, are what will open the doors for you. The following are ten things that all millennials should do to get ahead in their careers:

1. Think of your career as a series of experiences:

The most optimistic and intelligent way to look at your career isn’t how long you stay with one employer or that you focus on what you majored in at college. You need to collect experiences throughout your careers, whether that be with five employers or ten, with one business function or five or in one country or three. The idea is that you need to be a lifelong learner if you want to make an impact, succeed and feel accomplished. The experiences you have expand your world view, give you new perspectives and make you a more interesting person.

2. Don’t settle for a job you’re not passionate about:

 A lot of people are pushing college graduates to just get a job to pay the bills and that isn’t the greatest advice because research shows that you won’t last long there if you do. Furthermore, no smart company is going to have someone who is only there to make money because there’s always someone else who wants it more. When you’re passionate about your job, you’re excited, you work longer hours and end up accomplishing much more. Life is too short to settle for a career that you hate!

3. Focus on making a big impact immediately:

 The quicker you make an impact in a company the more attention and support you will get. Millennials understand this well because they won’t want to wait five years to get on a project where they can make this type of impact. Starting on day one, you have to learn as much as possible and start mastering your job so you can latch on to the bigger projects faster and prove yourself. By doing this, you will explode your career and become more valuable in your company, which will increase your pay, title and you’ll get to work on better projects.

4. Take risks early and often in your career:

 One of the important lessons this economy has taught us is that not taking risks is risky. There is so much out of our control and if we just keep doing what we did yesterday, we can’t get ahead. By taking a risk, you are putting yourself in a position to learn, whether you succeed or fail. You’re also showing to your management that you’re willing to put your reputation on the line to make things happen. As we become an ever more entrepreneurial society, those that take risks, both inside and outside of the corporate walls, will become more successful.

5. Spend more time with people than with your laptop:

 Students are plugged in and don’t understand that he strongest relationship are formed in person, not online. I constantly see students looking down at their iPhones and iPad’s instead of at people’s faces and it’s a missed opportunity. Soft skills will always become more cherished in companies so it’s important to drop your technology and actually communicate with people. People hire you, not technology and you have to remember that!

6. Measure your work outcomes and build case studies:

 If you look at any student resume, they almost always look the same. They have the same fields (education, experience, school activities). Under their experience fields, they list a company and then general information such as “Managed XXX project”. They dress up their experience bullets so they can turn menial tasks into something more marketable. The problem is that recruiters today, and especially in the future, are looking for outcomes. They want to know the numeric impact you’re having on a company through your work, which means increasing revenue or decreasing costs. Always think about measuring your projects and keeping track of the results because that’s what’s going to help you justify promotions.

7. Sacrifice today to position yourself for tomorrow:

You can’t have everything you want today so you need to work hard to put yourself in a better position in the future. From 2007 to 2009, I put in over one hundred hours a week working on something I loved. As a result, now I have the freedom to do what I want, when I want. While others would have used that same time to go out every night and party, I realized the bigger picture and you can too. The more you do early in your career, the more it will pay off later in life and you will be thankful just like I am.

8. Start your own website to centralize your work profile:

 You need a single place where you can store everything you accomplish and that should be a website under your name (yourfullname.com). By doing this, you can easily refer others to your work, whether it be hiring managers or for freelance projects. As you grow and develop your career, add new projects, education, skills and examples of your work to your website. Your website is a living, breathing resume that is always available to people even when you’re asleep.

9. Travel as much as you can, while learning about cultures and languages:

We live in a global marketplace now and companies are looking to expand and hire the best talent, regardless of location. The more you travel and experience the world, the better you will be at serving this marketplace and taking advantage of it. Furthermore, if you’re learning new languages, you are ahead of the curve. It’s hard for companies to find workers who are fluent in languages so if that’s you, you become more marketable.

10. Locate mentors who live your desired lifestyle:

 Most students aren’t selective about mentors and just feel fortunate to have them in the first place. I believe you need to choose the right mentor, who you can support and who has time to support you. That person should be someone in your industry who is living the lifestyle that you dream of. This way, they can tell you exactly what you need to do each day to get to their level. For instance, if you want to travel and do consulting in the future then find someone who has a job at McKinsey or Accenture to mentor you. Based on your meetings with them, you might even decide that the consulting lifestyle isn’t a good match for you after all.

10 Winter & Holiday Travel Tips to Melt Your Worries Away

It's no secret that winter and holiday travel can be the most stressful occasion. Especially when the hustle and bustle of holiday travel starts, people become more distressed with long waits and unexpected challenges. If you travel by air or car during the cold season, you can count on more delays than you'd experience in the summer. Once bad weather appears during the peak times for air travel, we end up with the lengthiest flight delays, cancellations and missed connections of the year.

On the other hand, road travel has its share of annoyances and risks. There may be road closings, slower speeds due to snow or sleet, traffic accidents and other obstacles to throw you off track. However, don't let the winter and holiday travel season make you blue. Become a smarter and happier traveler for your next winter vacations — use TravelSense's winter travel tips to make life easier as you journey to and from your destination.

Airline Travel Tips: Flying Doesn't Always Lead to Disaster:

Can you feel your teeth grinding as you imagine flying to your destination? If you're traveling a great distance over the holidays, the last thing you need is a stressful airport experience to start your vacation on the wrong foot. Consider some of the simplest airline travel tips that can alleviate your worries.

Plan ahead for your own sanity:

 Waiting to the last minute always leaves a great deal of your trip up to happenstance. Of all of the top winter travel tips you may find, this is the one piece of advice that will be well worth spending the extra time and effort. Contact your travel agent to book your vacation in advance as soon as you can manage. Then, you'll be able to avoid peak travel dates, get lower airfare, fly direct (or minimize your connections) and fly early or late in the day to avoid the bigger crowds.

Leave at least an extra hour earlier:

 As you prepare for your winter vacation, give yourself more time than usual in order to anticipate the peripheral delays that could occur. Remember to bring some reading material while you wait in the security line or at your departure gate. In cities with snow or ice, arrival delays can exceed two to three hours and de-icing procedures can take an hour before takeoff.

Pack as light as possible for your holiday travel:

Since more airlines are getting stricter on baggage limits and weight allowances, packing less and lighter suitcases could save you money and time. If you're planning holiday travel to be with your family and friends, consider shopping online and having your gifts shipped to your destination. This strategy will help cut down on luggage and minimize the risk of losing any special gifts.

Steer clear of influenza:

Winter travel can be a frequent contributor to the cold and flu time of year, adding a miserable element to your winter or holiday travel stress. Before you leave, visit your doctor's office to get the flu shot or nasal spray flu vaccine, which is only available for ages 5-49. Most germs will spread by contact, so wash your hands or use a hand sanitizer constantly.

Stretch your legs often:

 If you find yourself in cramped quarters or passing time on long flights, there's the possibility you could develop Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), leading to blood clotting in your legs. So, remember this essential airline travel tip on your next flight — take some time to walk around and stretch your arms and legs once every hour.

Winter Driving Tips: Easier and Safer Winter Road Trips:

For road travelers, winter can also be the most dangerous time of year. Motor vehicle accidents involving bad weather, mostly ice and snow, claim the lives of 6,000 Americans and injure 500,000 more every year (National Center for Atmospheric Research, 2005). The following winter driving tips will help you stay safe and a little less anxious on your next trip.

Have your car examined before you leave:

 This is one of the most crucial winter driving tips. It's the climatic scene of many movies, where someone's car breaks down in a strange town. The last thing you want to worry about is your car falling apart, leaving you stranded far away from home. Take it to your local auto shop for a quick once over, and make sure your tires are winter ready and properly inflated.

Be prepared for a change in course:

 Before you depart, become confident in knowing your route. It's very important that you're ready for anything on the road that could slightly change your plans, including construction, road closings and traffic hurdles. Remember to keep the directions as well as appropriate state map(s) handy, in case you need to reroute your trip.

Stay hydrated for the journey:

 It probably seems like dehydration isn't very likely, but a recent Mayo Clinic study shows that a mere one- to two-percent loss of body weight can quickly lead to fatigue and decreased alertness, which could be deadly in icy winter driving. Also, your body requires more fuel in the cold — so rely on high-energy food including sandwiches, a thermos filled with soup and fruit.

Pack a winter safety kit for the car:

 Don't leave without the essentials for a safe road trip — a cell phone (don't forget the car charger); ice scraper; tow rope and jumper cables; sand or cat litter to aid with traction; blankets; flashlights, matches and emergency candles; first aid kit; portable radio; and a good book, in case you do get stuck.

Make frequent rest stops:

 Winter driving is much more fatiguing than in the summer, so you'll want to make time to stop and stretch your legs. Just a few minutes off the road will make all the difference in improving your alertness when you're back behind the wheel.

Source :http://www.travelsense.org

10 things pole dancing can do for you

Pole athletes from X-Pole SA Tarryn Knight, Sherry Bremner and Joanna Pawelczyk share the benefits of pole dancing:

1. Core workout:

“Pole is a fantastic core work out. You won't ever have to do sit ups or crunches again, and with time, that six pack will be yours. As someone who did weights at gym religiously four to five times a week before I started pole I can confidently say that no amount of gym gave me the same toned body that pole does”, says Joanna Pawelczyk.

2. Cardio:

At first glance, most people won't consider pole dancing to get their heart rates up, but this is where they're wrong because “cardiovascular activity is a key element to pole dancing routines. It can be quite an exhausting workout as you're doing lots of hectic strength moves in a row for three to four minutes. It's amazing for your body.

"If you want to whip yourself into shape just work on a routine for three months! That's where competing is good because it gives you a solid reason to work hard”, Joanna advises.

“When training for a competition or show, running a four to five minute routine provides a great anaerobic cardio burst. Depending on one's fitness levels, and the routine, a pole workout can easily provide you with the peak heart rate bursts you need for cardio health”, agrees Tarryn Knight.

“There’s nothing like doing a pole routine to get the heart racing. It’s not all just strength training, you build up a sweat very quickly if you keep moving around and on your pole”, says Sherry Bremner.

3. Tone up and lose weight:

If a strong core and cardio workout is not enough to convince you then perhaps toning might.

Joanna explains that “pole fitness is a very upper body intensive sport so your arms, shoulders and abs will be the first to tone up.

"You won't ever get huge or bulky though as you're always working with your natural body weight. Your pectoral (chest) muscles develop with pole which is the same effect as doing lots of push ups, just not nearly as boring, and you won't need a wonder bra for that extra lift" 

She says that certain poses in pole work the inner thighs and quads as well but the real leg work out comes from doing dynamic stretching exercises, which not only works your butt fantastically but makes you more flexible at the same time. 

With regard to dropping some kilos, Joanna says that pole fitness "can definitely help with weight loss as well but like any other form of exercise it’s not going to make you shed weight if you only do it once a week. I recommend three to four times a week minimum, and naturally, a healthy balanced diet."

“Whilst I have always been blessed with an athletic physique, I can certainly confirm that my muscle definition is much more pronounced when I've been training. I've seen my pole fitness friends develop defined abdominals, biceps and triceps. Even the conditioning exercises that we do off the pole are a very good workout for all areas of the body”, confirms Tarryn.

4. Strengthen your back:

In addition this, “pole fitness moves will develop your back muscles to be very strong. This, combined with a strong core, means reduced injuries from everyday life. You won't need a man to carry your groceries or move your couch - you can do it yourself!” says Joanna.

5. A healthy metabolism :

“My pole friends swear that they burn food more quickly when they are training for a show or competition. Since one of our pole friends owns a bakery, an increased metabolism is a welcome side-effect because we always have her delicious cupcakes backstage!” confesses Tarryn.

She says that pole fitness has given her 'hobbit eating habits', especially when she is training extra hard. "I eat breakfast and second breakfast, a pre-lunch snack, lunch, a pre-tea time snack, tea, my 4 o’ clock snack, pre-dinner and then dinner. Sometimes I have an after dinner snack if I am still awake working."

The pole athletes eat regular meals but try to keep it healthy, with lots of fruits and vegetables and proteins.

6. Coordination and balance:

Pole fitness also requires an incredible amount of coordination and balance. Learning to control spins, turns and pivots will strengthen muscles throughout your body.

“Back and core strength are required for pole fitness and these same ingredients enable good posture. Good posture is important for optimal lung functioning, healthy digestion, a healthy spine and an alert, engaged mind”, says Tarryn.

7. Flexibility:

Because Twirling yourself around a pole involves quite a bit of stretching, your flexibility will also reap the benefits.

Tarryn explains that flexibility is so important in aerial arts because there is often nothing off of which to leverage. Leg extensions, aerial splits, back bends. . . all pole poses and moves have to be performed with a person's own ability to create the shape without any leverage or assistance.

She reminds us that flexibility has undisputed benefits for injury prevention, recovery, general muscle and joint health.

8. Body confidence:

In addition to all of these fitness benefits, Joanna says that “pole fitness also gives you a sense of confidence, independence, sexiness and strength that no other sport can do. It isn't just amazing for your outer body but for your inner self too.”

It has helped Joanna and many other women with "body acceptance", she explains:

"When I first started pole I was horrified at the thought of having to wear shorts in public, being exceptionally shy about my legs and my pale skin. It was less than two weeks of classes before I owned my first pair of pole shorts and would happily walk about the studio in them. I very quickly realised that no one in a pole class judges you! Everyone is there to learn and be challenged and it unites you in a common cause. You learn to accept your body for what it is and turn your focus away from appearance and on to achieving that new pole trick you saw on Instagram. It's incredibly liberating. Of course, being such a great form of exercise, you start feeling stronger and more confident, and suddenly can't understand why none of your jackets fit anymore”, says Sherry.

9. Endurance:

“Pole, and the expression of dance, is so much fun that it's easy to lose track of time. When you don't realize how long you've been training for, your endurance increases with little effort. It's also possible to become so distracted by the determination to get a new move that one doesn't realise how much muscle power they are using. It's only the next day or two when your body feels stiff that you become aware of the good workout pole fitness provides.” says Tarryn.

10.   Laughter is the best medicine:

“The best part of pole is that it's incredibly fun – you don’t even think you're exercising. This also makes it easier to keep going and not give up,” says Joanna.

All the fun and laughter that comes with pole fitness allows you to tap into the mental and physical benefits to laughter – stress relieve, heart and general health benefits.

Source :http://www.health24.com

THE 10 BEST CAREERS FOR THE FUTURE

The world’s marketplace is a drastically different place than it was just a few decades ago. Finding employment that is going to be profitable now and in the future can be a challenge. This is a challenge that is faced by many young individuals who are trying to decide what field of study they should take in order to put themselves in the best position for future financial success. The following is a list of 10 fields that have the potential to grow and provide suitable employment now and in the future.

Best Careers for the Future:

Sustainability:

Everyday the environment is faced with very serious challenges. Questions exist as to whether or not the environment will be able to stand up to the onslaught of attacks that it is undergoing. Individuals who study sustainability will focus their studies on the environment. They will get environmental degrees, and they will finish school having the mindset of finding practical solutions to the problems facing the environment. The study course that individuals who get a degree in sustainability take will include understanding business, science, and the law. Additional emphasis is put on ways to manage resources and ethics. Individuals who choose to study in this field are setting themselves up to work in an area that will experience growth for decades to come.

Public Health Sector:

The public health sector will constantly need well-trained doctors, nurses, and technicians. There are multiple factors that indicate that the public health sector will grow over the next few decades. One factor is the rise in population. The second factor is the ever present threat of global epidemics.

Individuals who choose to get into the public health field will be able to work in a wide variety of settings. They can work in a lab and study public health from a statistical angle. They can work with lawmakers and try to form policies designed to protect public health. They can work with hospitals and directly interact with patients. Or they can work in conjunction with nonprofit organizations providing low cost and free healthcare to individuals in their community and around the world.

Robotics:

It is estimated that between 2012 in 2020 robotics will be responsible for between 2 million to 3.5 million new jobs. Robotics is influencing every aspect of modern life. Anesthesia Bots, for example, are being used to assist with surgery. Oceanographers are also using robotics to allow them to map the watery depths where humans currently cannot travel. As space travel continues to become more and more important, robotics are being included in things such as surveying the surface of foreign planets and engaging in exploratory missions. Individuals who work in robotics will likely study things like mechanical, electrical, and software engineering.

Business Analytics:

As long as there are businesses, business analytics will be an important job. It is estimated that over the next few years business analytics will see a sizable increase in demand. Business analytics is basically a business major. Individuals who are involved with business analytics will study things like computer software, math, statistics, and they will work to have strong communication skills.

Petroleum Engineering:

In recent years, advances in technology have made it possible for oil companies to retrieve oil from shale formations that just a decade ago could not be tapped. Because of this, there has been a sharp increase in the need for petroleum engineers. This increase is exacerbated by the fact that more than half of the current petroleum engineers working plan to retire within 10 years.

Petroleum engineering brings with it salaries that start in excess of $100,000 annually. Individuals who graduate with a degree in petroleum engineering will be able to work as either drilling engineers, production engineers, or reservoir engineers.

Biomedical Engineering:

This is a field of study that is of interest to individuals who are interested in the correlation between life that exists on the planet and science. They study living organisms, and then they see how some of the principles behind their movement and their existence can be used to improve things, like engineering and medicine. They are at the forefront of creating lifesaving apparatuses such as artificial organs. A good example of this is the artificial kidney which since its creation has improved the lives of more than 2 million individuals. It is estimated that between the years 2010 in 2020 this field will see a 62 percent growth in jobs.

Biometrics:

Biometrics in the field that teaches individuals how to make devices that recognize living organisms. A good example of this is the facial recognition system. It is believed that over the next few years biometrics and biometric readers will replace conventional forms of identification. They will also replace many of the passwords that individuals use on their electronic devices. Examples of this can be seen by smartphones, smart devices, and laptops that allow their owners to login using their fingerprint as a password as opposed to typing in a password manually.

According to the New York-based transparency market research, it is estimated that by the year 2018, biometrics are going to see growth by more than $360 million. Individuals who get a degree in biometrics can work as security consultants and intelligence analysts. They can also work in the design of the different biometric systems that are used by security agencies.

Forensic Science:

Forensic scientists are always going to be needed, especially when it comes to using some of the modern technology that has been designed to investigate crimes. Forensic scientists use technology as a way to help them better examine and better understand evidence that is produced in cases. Students who choose to study forensic science would expect to spend a good portion of their university time learning math, science, and also understanding how the criminal justice system works.

Computer Game Design:

Computer video game design is a field that is expected to continue to grow over the next few decades. Designers must understand complex mathematics, animation, audio, and programming. Video game and computer game design is not just for entertainment. These games are also used as a way to train firefighters, military personnel, and other first-responders on how to react during an emergency.

It is estimated by the year 2017, the video game market is going to reach $82 billion. This means that this is an area where the potential for growth is unlimited.

Cyber Security:

Every single year there is a new major attack on the major computer systems around the world. For this reason, governments and large companies are aggressively doing whatever they can to protect their computer systems. It is estimated that over the next two years, between 2014 and 2016, the Pentagon is going to hire more than 4,000 individuals who are experts in cyber security. In addition to jobs with the government, individuals who understand cyber security will find jobs at healthcare firms, energy firms, and any form of security firm. Students who work in cyber security, are required to understand how to “lift the hood” of computer programs and understand how and why certain computer programs operate in order to understand potential weaknesses.

Source :http://www.collegerank.net

HOW TO WASH YOUR FACE THE RIGHT WAY

Could washing your face the right way be the secret the better skin? According to Rebecca Tung, MD, chair of dermatology at Loyola University Chicago, the simple skin care step is more impactful than you might think."I've seen patients with really sensitive skin who 'wash' their faces with just water," she says. "That can lead to excess collections of acne-causing bacteria and yeast that result in seborrhoeic dermatitis—sort of like dandruff on your face." Here, Tung demystifies the perfect clean.

1. Wash at least every night, if not twice a day:

"At the minimum, washing your face before you go to bed is critical," Tung says. Yes, that's even if you're not wearing a smidge of makeup. To ace face washing, suds up morning and night. And always wash or use a wipe after a workout to fend off sweat-induced breakouts.

2. Remove your makeup:

That long-wear eye makeup and foundation isn't going to come off with cleanser alone. Use an oil-based makeup remover. Or keep a pack of face wipes like Neutrogena Makeup Removing Cleansing Towelettes on your bedside table so there's no excuse.

3. Divide and conquer with two face washes:

Not sure how to choose the best face wash for your skin? You can't go wrong with a soap-free cleanser, which is gentle enough to use on any skin type. One to try: Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Hydrating Cleanser. Wet your face, and use circular motions to massage it onto your skin. Aim for at least 30 seconds of washing to let the cleanser do its job. If you tend to break out in your T-zone or get blackheads on your nose, take care of those trouble spots with an acne treatment that contains either benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid. Those ingredients need to stay on your skin for about one minute to be effective. The truly acne prone can use a treatment wash all over, but overuse on any skin type can lead to redness and peeling.

4. Use warm to cool water:

"A lot of patients want to use hot water. They feel like they're almost giving themselves a little steam treatment, but it can be very irritating to skin," Tung says. Stick to lukewarm or cool water. Post-workout, try Tung's trick to cut down redness and flushing: Splash your face with cold water, which constricts blood vessels.

5. Consider power washing:

When it comes to getting the most intense clean, a powered cleansing tool such as Clarisonic does a more thorough, uniform job of cleaning off surface dirt than your hands or even a washcloth. Need more incentive to try one? "A tool tightens pores and increases the cell turnover of your skin. It'll help reduce acne and even minimize sun damage," Tung says. Plus, seeing it on your bathroom sink is better than a sticky-note reminder screaming, "Wash your face!"

6. Gently pat dry:

You're at the finish line: Gently pat skin dry with a clean, dry face towel.

Source :http://www.elle.com