Month: March 2023

Best Supplement To Improve IQ By 10%

Best IQ supplement for older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) — an omega-3 fatty acid — can improve IQ by 10 percent, research finds.

People in the study, who were aged over 65, were given 2g/day of DHA for a year.

A control group was given a placebo of corn oil.

The high quality study involved 240 Chinese individuals.

Their IQ and other measures of cognitive function were tested after 6 and 12 months.

The study’s authors explain the results:

“…oral DHA supplementation (2 g/d) for 12 months beneficially affected global cognitive function, specifically participants’ performance on the Information and Digit Span tasks.”

Brain scans also revealed changes in the hippocampus, an area of the brain critical for memory.

The study’s authors write:

“The hippocampus is a critical brain region for memory formation and plays important roles in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory and spatial navigation.

[…]

Our results suggest that 12-month DHA supplementation significantly increased hippocampus volume.

Notably, we observed a 6.13% volume increase in the left hippocampus, a 1.89% increase in the right hippocampus, and a 0.29% increase in total hippocampus.

Best supplement combination?

The use of omega-3 to prevent dementia has provided some mixed results.

B vitamins also seem to be important in warding off cognitive decline.

A recent study found that B vitamins combined with omega-3 can help slow mental decline in older people with memory problems.

The study’s first author, Dr Abderrahim Oulhaj explained the results:

‘We found that for people with low levels of Omega-3, the vitamin supplements had little to no effect.

But for those with high baseline Omega-3 levels, the B vitamins were very effective in preventing cognitive decline compared to the placebo.

Other studies, though, have been less positive about the benefits of omega-3 for cognitive decline.

It is likely that the combination of nutrients — including both B vitamins and omega-3 will turn out to be the crucial factor.

→ Related:

The study was published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (Zhang et al., 2016).

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ChatGPT for Marketing: How This AI Tool Will Impact Agencies

ChatGPT for Marketing: How This AI Tool Will Impact AgenciesChatGPT for Marketing: How This AI Tool Will Impact Agencies

Once ChatGPT made its debut, the discussion about what it will do to marketing agencies started almost immediately. There have been tons of articles, videos, and podcasts on this topic. As a result, those in the industry are getting a lot of mixed messages about the impact and use of ChatGPT for marketing purposes.

If you’re feeling confused (and concerned for your business’s future), you’re not alone.

So, let’s talk about it…

How ChatGPT Can Be Used for Marketing

ChatGPT is an AI-powered chatbot that gives conversational responses to questions and prompts, making it a valuable tool for marketing purposes. Instead of typing a query into Google and reviewing each result, you can head over to ChatGPT and get a single answer. Plus, you can keep the conversation going to dive deeper into the topic or refine the responses.

Here are some common applications of ChatGPT for marketing:

  • It can help brainstorm new content ideas.
  • It can aid in keyword research for SEO.
  • It can generate ad copy.
  • It can be used to draft business emails and letters.
  • It can provide short descriptions for videos.
  • It can produce content for blogs, ebooks, etc.
  • It can assist in debugging code errors.
  • It can analyze customer data.
  • It can offer responses for customer service automation.

As you can see, there’s a lot of potential in applying ChatGPT for various marketing tasks. But that’s part of the problem—at least for some marketers. The fact that this transformative software can do all the above (and more) has left many marketing professionals scared.

Why Some Marketers Are Afraid of ChatGPT

One of the biggest concerns in the whole debate about ChatGPT is that the tool will negatively affect marketers. There’s a fear it will replace specific roles, including writers, programmers, PPC experts, and SEO specialists. But there’s also a fear it will wipe out marketing agencies entirely.

Basically, marketing professionals are worried that ChatGPT will make their jobs obsolete.

Part of this is because the applications of ChatGPT for marketing are growing by the day. As mentioned earlier, it can be used to complete a number of tasks that people usually handle. Its current capabilities are already impressive, and it will only improve with time.

The other part is the idea that ChatGPT might become a substitute for Google and other search engines. After all, it is more convenient to generate one answer than to scroll through multiple results on a SERP. So if more people opt for ChatGPT than Google, it could spell trouble for marketers specializing in SEO and paid advertising.

This isn’t the first time we’ve been threatened by new technology, and it probably won’t be the last. But that’s why it’s worth examining what we, as marketers, can do that ChatGPT can’t.

Where ChatGPT Falls Short

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4 Tools to Keep Meetings On Track

4 Tools to Keep Meetings On Track

Smart people have lousy meetings. Keeping meetings on track is like organizing a barrel of hummingbirds.

The only thing worse than low-participation meetings is one exploding with ideas that ends in confusion. Add a bloviator or two and you’re doomed. And don’t forget the genius who brings up flying pigs when the topic is purple giraffes.

Meetings spiral into oblivion when ideas and perspectives cause paralysis.

Keep meetings on track by asking people to complete a sentence. Image of a quote.Keep meetings on track by asking people to complete a sentence. Image of a quote.

4 tools to keep meetings on track:

#1. Anticipate derailment factors:

  1. Incompetence at the head of the table. The person at the head of the table is responsible for the quality of the meeting.
  2. Poor planning.
  3. Generic agendas.
  4. Insecure barrier builders who imagine bizarre obstacles.
  5. Intentional distractors with hidden agendas.
  6. Genius scatter brains.
  7. Political manipulators.

Meetings are dead ends when talking creates the illusion of action. Image of light swirls in the air.Meetings are dead ends when talking creates the illusion of action. Image of light swirls in the air.

#2. Declare specific outcomes.

You can’t keep meetings on track when there is no track. Please don’t have meetings to explore an issue or discuss a topic.

You convene to generate five ways to meet next week’s deadline, not to explore an issue. ‘Explore’ and ‘discussion’ invite random conversations.

#3. Leverage the “dog in the fight” rule.

Invite people who have a dog in the fight, no one else. Anyone who consistently leaves without a task should not be invited to the meeting.

Good meetings save time. Image of an alarm clock in a person's hand.Good meetings save time. Image of an alarm clock in a person's hand.

#4. Use fill in the blank statements.

The room is filled with smart people. Keep meetings on track by asking people to complete a sentence.

  1. My suggestion for meeting next week’s deadline is ____________.
  2. The next three steps on this project are ___________.
  3. My recommendation is ____________.
  4. The objective of this project is ____________.
  5. One of our best opportunities right now is ____________.
  6. One reason this won’t work is ______________. (Use when searching for potential obstacles.)
  7.  One way I can contribute to this project is __________.

Begin with answers. No stories. No long explanations. Gently interrupt people who avoid the question.

Which of the above ideas seems most actionable for you?

How do you keep meetings on track?

Still curious:

16 Simple Ways You Can Lead Engaging Meetings

3 Words that Make Meetings Great

6 Meeting Saboteurs Every Leader Meets

10 Tactics to Keep Your Meeting on Track (hbr.org)

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