Entrepreneurship - Page 5

3 Great Ways To Encourage Youth Entrepreneurship

Today’s youth represents tomorrow’s movers and shakers, so it’s hugely beneficial to encourage youth entrepreneurship. In a world where few people know exactly what they want to do when they leave high school, providing platforms for entrepreneurial flair to flourish is likely to have an incredibly positive impact on the world of business. 

To make things possible for the next generation, here are some of the best ways to promote youth entrepreneurship.

Encourage thinking, discussion and creativity.

Being a successful entrepreneur isn’t just about having ideas or being able to manage a team of people. To make it to the top, you have to have a diverse skill set and an innate desire to ask questions and find solutions. 

As adults, we should be encouraging children and teens to engage in open discussion, indulge their inquisitive nature, and carry out research. Every person is different, and divergent thinking is something to embrace, rather than discourage. It’s useful to debate, question other people’s opinions and ideas and learn to solve problems. 

Young people tend to be more confident about voicing their opinions when they feel safe, and this is why it’s important to provide safe platforms and environments in which to speak. School and college debating classes are an excellent example, and will undoubtedly prepare budding entrepreneurs for boardrooms and event spaces.

Real-life experiences.

You can learn a lot from textbooks and lectures, but real life often provides the most powerful and memorable lessons. If you’ve been contacted by a teenager who expresses an interest in what you do, or a local school or college wants to collaborate with you, consider opening up opportunities that enable young people to gain experience of the working day. Let them sit and watch, observe and digest what’s going on and encourage them to join in. 

We tend to have a vision of entrepreneurialism from TV programs and books, but the real world is often very different. Experiences can teach you more about what’s involved in business, but they can also ignite passions and foster ambition. 

If you’re a business owner eager to encourage new talent to thrive, you can provide access to real-life experiences by offering work placements, on-the-job training, apprenticeships, and internships.

Practical skills.

It’s not possible to learn everything you need to know about life in the big bad world after school or college in the classroom. A high school graduate may emerge with an excellent grasp on Pythagoras’ theorem, but could they manage accounts? 

As a business owner looking for the next leading lights, it pays to encourage the development of practical skills that will equip individuals for an entrepreneurial journey. This can be done through skills workshops, training programs, and even courses that are open to students and those looking to pursue a career in business.

As adults, we have to encourage the next generation to fulfill its potential. Whether you’re a business leader, a freelancer, a creative thinker, or a company executive, you can play your part in encouraging youth entrepreneurship and nurturing the stars of tomorrow.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Powerful Ways to Make the Most of Your Brainstorming Session

Coming up with new ideas takes work. And if you’re tasked to come up with fresh ideas frequently, it can be easy for you to hit a brick wall. This is when brainstorming sessions are essential. Brainstorming is the process of collecting as many ideas as you can and filtering them to get the best ones. During a brainstorming session, every idea should be heard. The goal is to just let the creative juices flow and gather as many ideas as possible without criticism. Remember that there are no bad ideas during brainstorming.

Here are five ways how you can make the most of your brainstorming session:

  1. Be clear about your objective

For a brainstorming session to be effective, make sure that you communicate your objective clearly. A well-defined objective will prevent your team from losing focus and going astray. It’s futile to gather your team, hustle them in a room, and ask them to throw ideas without a goal in mind. Effective brainstorming needs a plan and a plan must have an objective.

  1. Start the session relaxed

The mind works best when it’s rested and relaxed so start your brainstorming session on a light note. Encourage easy conversation and allow your team members to speak out. Everyone is encouraged to participate. The goal is to get people unstuck and urge them to come up with thoughts and ideas. When the mood is light, ideas are bound to flow.

  1. Time the session

To get the thought process rolling, make sure to time your session. A clock is a good reminder that there’s a deadline and this will help propel your team to think quickly. You can keep the session to as short as five minutes or it can run to as long as 45 minutes. Make sure that you make your session long enough for ideas to flow freely.

  1. Write everything down

Make sure that all ideas, good or bad, are noted down. Use a whiteboard so that your team members can see all the ideas that have been shared and add more suggestions. Do not judge or favor any idea and just welcome everything: big ideas, bold ideas, and even totally ridiculous ones. Brainstorming sessions are all about quantity, not quality.

  1. Evaluate the ideas

After you have gathered all the ideas, the next step is to evaluate them one by one and separate the good from the bad. Remove all duplicate ideas and assess all the remaining ideas one by one. Is the idea fresh? Is it unique? Does it provide a solution? In choosing the best idea, you need to go back to the objective and ask yourself if an idea meets your objective.

Brainstorming sessions are one the effective ways to come up with new ideas. If used wisely, it can a very effective tool to come up with great ideas and help take your company to the next level.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

How to Draw Useful Tips from Notable Speakers, Coaches and Mentors

 

As an entrepreneur who is always interested in learning from experts and leaders in other industries, I am familiar with the vast amount of material available from well-known coaches and mentors. There is an overwhelming load of information and advice on a daily basis. So much, in fact, anyone seeking to hone their skills and need tips or advice on a particular subject can easily obtain this information online.

Here are 5 ways you can take advantage of your Internet connection to learn from leading professionals across multiple industries. Whether you’re just starting out or have been working in your line of business for several years, there lies a significant advantage in listening to other people’s perspectives on an assortment of topics, especially when it comes from someone who has the background and knowledge on the subject at hand.

Check out the tips below on how you can glean advice that will contribute to your overall worldview, increase your knowledge, or just learn something that you might not have known before.

Blogs & YouTube 

Many of the prominent and well-known speakers, personal development coaches and influencers have personal websites or Youtube channels where they regularly upload content. This material may consist of helpful blog posts or articles which will give you an idea about their perspective. If it’s a Youtube video, most of the time it’s a clip of them speaking at a conference, talk or seminar where they often provide their audiences with valuable information.

Either way, take the time to scour over your favorite speaker’s online content. If you’re unable to attend their events, checking out what they have available online for free is an excellent way to learn something new or to get their take on certain topics.

Newsletters

While some speakers and mentors post new content on their websites on a regular basis, others use newsletters that are mostly exclusive to those individuals who have signed up to receive their content. From experience, I’ve found the information provided in newsletters very helpful, and within my weekly newsletter, even though most of the content is not exclusive to my subscribers, I always include a recap of the recent articles on my blog.

One suggestion is to subscribe to a handful of newsletters of insiders or influencers within the industry you would like to learn more about. Subscribing to a variety of newsletters will not only give you a different perspective but also allow you to sift and sort through helpful tips and the information you need to get you further along. 

Teleseminars

Teleseminar is another great way to learn something. If you’ve subscribed to a newsletter, you might have already received an invite to join or participate. Similar to the newsletters, sometimes you have to be a subscriber to the speaker’s or mentor’s newsletter to receive the invite. Professionals on Facebook and Instagram also promote their teleseminars for free and use these as a vehicle to offer their paid services.

While some teleseminars cost a fee to join, there are plenty available each month with minimal to no sign-up fee. Whatever your industry, check to see if your speaker of choice is hosting a teleseminar anytime soon.

Blinkist

It’s been some time since I’ve read a book on Blinkist but as I write this, it instantly reminds me of how useful their service truly is. Services similar link Blinkist thrives because they allow us to consume the main gist and most valuable information in a minimal amount of time. Maybe you’re interested in a 300-page book but don’t have a chance to read it. Blinkist pulls the book’s main content and cuts it down to the minutes for reading or audio consumption.

With my present schedule, I’m unable to read as much as I’d like but I find having the option to scan for relevant info or to learn more about a topic without having to dedicate hours to thoroughly reading a book handy. When the time doesn’t permit you to soak up as much knowledge as you’d like to check out Blinkist’s library to see if they have books written by your favorite speaker or coach – you’d be surprised as to what you’ll find.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

4 Documentaries Any Entrepreneur Can Learn Something From

Films are designed to entertain us, but also to inform us. When it comes to documentaries, these qualifiers are usually reversed — information comes first with entertainment being inserted via cinematography, editing and storytelling techniques.

To be informed is to be at the top of your game…at least, that’s the case for entrepreneurs. These four documentaries are guaranteed to teach entrepreneurs valuable lessons about business and success, as well as providing some much needed entertainment along the way.

  1. Something Ventured

If you want to get a company going, you likely won’t only be funneling money you make into the endeavor. Investors are an important part of the process, though they’re often overlooked when we talk about businesses. Giants like Apple and Intel may be self-sufficient today, but they wouldn’t be here without investors believing in the business from an early age.

This is the basis of Something Ventured. The documentary covers Apple, Intel and Atari and the investors who believed in them enough to funnel money into the business. Obviously, their initial faith paid off.

  1. Jiro Dreams of Sushi

While this documentary isn’t directly related to business topics, it does contain a lesson that all entrepreneurs need to learn. This film covers the life of Jiro Ono, an 85-year-old man who is considered to be the greatest sushi chef in the world. His restaurant in Tokyo is acclaimed, mostly due to Jiro’s dedication to his craft. Jiro goes out of his way to make sure his sushi will be the best, going as far to massage an octopus for an hour to enhance the quality of its texture.

So what’s the takeaway? Anything worth doing is worth doing right. If you’re passionate about your dream, you’ll do anything for it AND be as dedicated as necessary to make it come true.

  1. She++

This is definitely one to look into if you’re a female entrepreneur. If you thought being a professional woman was hard as it is, imagine being a woman interested in a field like tech or gaming. These industries are notorious for being boy’s clubs, and women are just now beginning to find their footing within them.

This Vimeo documentary focuses on women in tech who are taking the industry by storm. When any industry stagnates based on discrimination, creativity is lost and innovation is abandoned.

  1. Freakonomics – The Movie

Freakonomics is a book that’s on many an entrepreneur’s shelf, but just as many haven’t seen the documentary based on this best seller. Knowing what motivates people is essential when you’re an entrepreneur. This is how you sell a product or service, market it to the public and develop the bones for your initial idea. Freakonomics takes this idea and makes it fascinating and entertaining with intelligent and amusing studies that go into the mind of the consumer.

Why limit yourself to only four documentaries about entrepreneurship? Pop open your Netflix or open up your Amazon bookmark and see what other suggestions you can find. Never stop learning and never stop watching.

Business Meeting Mistakes Many Entrepreneurs Make

You can’t call yourself an entrepreneur if you haven’t gone to at least one business meeting. Business meetings are a useful tool and standard part of business. They allow you to share ideas, knowledge and projections with a team of people or your staff so that everyone is on the same page.

As an entrepreneur, you’re likely to be the one heading these meetings, which means you’ve got some responsibilities here to set the tone and lead the team. If you can’t successfully accomplish this? Your meeting is in trouble.

The best way to fix this problem is by knowing what mistakes NOT to make before ever setting foot into your meeting location. Here are a few that are common, but that should be avoided at all costs.

Not Being Prepared

This is one of the biggest meeting sins: not being prepared before starting the meeting. As the meeting leader, it’s your job to make sure that you know exactly what you’re talking about. You need to be able to answer questions correctly and inform the team as accurately as possible.

Whether you can achieve this by writing an outline or using notecards, know that you HAVE to make sure you’re prepared to the best of your ability. There’s no faking it until you make it in meetings — if you aren’t prepared, it WILL be obvious.

Being Robotic

On a similar note, there is such a thing as being TOO prepared. Let’s say you write down all these important facts and figures on notecards and read them off to your team. Someone asks you a question about the information…but you totally draw a blank and have no idea what to say.

You can’t just go into a meeting with hard facts — you also have to have comprehension and confidence. Be able to talk about what you want to discuss fluidly and accurately at the same time. Be prepared to answer questions that you may not be totally confident in.

No Purpose In Mind

It’s great to have weekly staff meetings…but why? Do you have an objective every time you call your staff together?

You should. Whether it’s something as simple as refining an existing business practice or talking about a new partnership, every meeting should have a clear purpose and talk about a problem to solve. Without an agenda, you’re really just rambling co-workers.

You Don’t Listen

Finally, one of the worst things you can do in a business meeting is make it all about yourself. When you bring people together, the idea is that you can all communicate and share ideas with one another. Many bosses decide to use business meetings to push their own thoughts and agenda, but that’s not respecting their employees.

Even if you have explicit directives you want to give employees, make sure that they also have time to share their thoughts. Listen to what they have to say. Even in cases where you disagree, employees appreciate knowing that you listened and thought about what they had to stay instead of not caring to listen at all.

4 Powerful Key Steps to Becoming an Entrepreneur

Every Fortune 500 company existing today started as an idea — a dream, even. But with hard work, diligence, and the right plan, these business owners turned their tiny startup idea into a multimillion-dollar company.

Startups Houston – The point is that everyone starts somewhere, and who’s to say your tiny idea won’t one day grow into the next big thing? It’s possible…you just need to know where to start!

It takes a lot to become a successful entrepreneur. These are the first four baby steps you need to take in order to get your idea off the ground, but remember: hard work is required throughout your journey!

  1. Settle on Your Startup Idea

It’s one thing to have a tiny idea or a concept, but before you can truly be an entrepreneur you have to have a fully realized business idea on your hands. It’s not enough to think “what if something existed that solved this problem?” It has to be more concrete: “I have a solution to this real world problem.”

This isn’t to say you have to have the entire business ready to go from the jump. Worry about branding and packaging design later; these are extemporaneous details at this point. The very first thing you have to do is fully realize your startup idea and get it onto paper.

  1. Set Some Realistic Goals

Now that you know what your business is going to be, ask yourself this question: what do you want to do with it? Is it a restaurant franchise you want to take global? Is it a QVC-type product you can sell in rotations? Or is it a social media management company that you wouldn’t mind selling off in five years?

No one’s saying you have to plan out your entire business’ longevity and stick to some rigid plan, but a business made without goals in mind is a business that won’t succeed.

  1. Gather Data

Startups Houston – Before you can shop your idea around to people who can help make your dreams reality, you have to have some sort of hard data on hand that proves your idea is a good one. For instance, you’ve made a prototype of a small machine that professionally cleans toilets, sinks, and other bathroom fixtures. How does it work? Who all have you gotten to try this product?

Now think about harder data: what is the market for this product? Who will buy this product? How much does it cost to make vs. how much you’re willing to sell the product for? From concepts to facts and figures, you need to gather data that will convince people your product is worthwhile.

  1. Pitch Your Idea

Startups Houston – Finally, you can’t truly know how the market will react to your product or business until you actually pitch the idea. Depending on the type of startup you have in mind, this could be distributors or partners interesting in pushing a product. It might be your initial group of startup employees or a company that you want to B2B partner with.

When you pitch your business idea to interested parties, some may not be enthusiastic — and that’s okay. Listen to feedback. Sometimes you need to start all the way back at square one, but this information is vital to creating a startup that truly succeeds.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Settling on a Branding Scheme

Branding yourself or a business for the first time can be scary. After all, your brand is your business image and identifying feature. It’s something you should put a lot of thought into, isn’t it?

Yes. Sometimes business plans are stalled due to branding concerns, that’s how important branding can be for a business. When it comes to your own brand, you need to be just as diligent. You assert that diligence by asking important questions.

Your questions should be focused on one thing: brand completion. These questions should lead you to finalize your branding decisions, further cementing your brand as a true winner. These three questions in particular can help you develop a truly killer branding scheme.

“What would my brand look like if it was a person?”

I’ve talked about it before, but your brand has a personality. In fact, it is the representation of your business’ personality. What else has personalities? People!

If you’re trying to pin down who your business really is, actually look at it from the angle of it being a real, living person. What does your brand look like? What do they sound like? Are they in their 40s with three kids? Are they black or white, or maybe another race altogether? Are they a male with entrepreneurial goals?

Establishing a face helps you put into perspective the voice that goes along with that face. If when you finally pin down who this person is, you can further shape your business’ brand identity.

“Do I know how people will react to my brand?”

If you’ve ever seen an article about a huge branding mistake and wondered “how did they let that happen?,” it’s usually because those who create branding schemes have tunnel vision without outside perspective. When the only opinion in the room is your own, it’s easy to think you’re 100% right.

Getting outside data is always important when it comes to branding. This helps you identify the public response to your branding. It’s not always as salacious as a branding strategy being offensive or downright horrible — sometimes it’s the little things that can really make a difference. Analytic data can help you fine-tune your brand from the inside out.

“Is this a brand I can live with forever?”

Make no mistake — you can change your branding down the line. In fact, many businesses do exactly that in order to revitalize their image. However, just as many brands remain the same, or only implement small tweaks, during the longevity of their business.

You may not stick with your brand as is, but the branding strategy and scheme you choose should be one that you could feasibly use for as long as you’re in business. The biggest takeaway is that your brand scheme can’t be slapped together — once it’s final, you have to live with it.

Think of branding questions as exercises in creativity and business knowledge. Asking and answering questions like these helps you stay in touch with the heart and purpose of your business. The more thought you put into your branding, the less likely it is that your business will be a flash in the pan.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

How to Stay Mindful When You’re a Busy Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs live very busy lives. They go, go, go and never find the time to fully come to a stop. If this defines your own life, consider this: you can be just as productive while still having inner peace and a way to put your mind at ease when you do find some downtime.

Many entrepreneurs might think this is ridiculous. A way to stay busy while still being able to relax when you need to? Preposterous! The truth is that it’s entirely possible thanks to one helpful technique: mindfulness.

Mindfulness is the ability to focus entirely on the present, and that’s in the most literal sense. Not the current day or the current week instead of a far-off to-do list. No, mindfulness means focusing on each second as it passes; being utterly and completely in the moment. It’s unrealistic to say you can always tune out your busy day, but practicing mindfulness gives you a place to escape when it’s time to put work down for the night.

But…how can you stay mindful and practice mindfulness when you have such a busy schedule to adhere to? I have a few tips that can make it work for you, no matter how packed your schedule is.

Skip the evening…go for a mindful morning.

Many entrepreneurs feel the pressure to practice mindfulness during the evening, right after they (maybe) finished up their to-do list. While this is the time when it’s most helpful to be mindful, don’t leap into mindfulness right after you round out your day. Instead, practice mindfulness when it’s easiest — during the morning.

In the morning, it’s a lot easier to clear your head. Right after you wake up, you haven’t thrown yourself into the thick of the day. At night, you’ve already got a ton of work thoughts swirling around in your head.

Set aside time for short breaks.

It’s not to say that you need to take whole 15-minute chunks out of your day to practice mindfulness. Instead, set aside little bite-sized pieces of time (like three to five minutes) to let go of all of your thoughts and slip into being in the moment. This can help to keep your mind sharp and focused during the day, and it also keeps your brain from going 100 miles per hour non-stop throughout the day.

Indulge the senses.

One of the most important aspects of mindfulness is, well, being aware of your mind and what it’s feeling. The best way to do this is to directly stimulate the senses as much as possible.

A great opportunity for this that doesn’t interrupt your schedule is your lunch break. Put aside your phone and focus only on your food. Savor each bite and catalog the flavors, smells, and textures of what you’re eating. Is it cold? Is it crunchy? Does it make you feel nostalgia or bring up a memory?

Master Mindfulness doesn’t have to be difficult

Being in the moment means truly feeling every emotion and sense that passes through your body. Once you’ve mastered this, you’ve truly mastered mindfulness.

Female Entrepreneurs We Can All Learn Something From

Women are more powerful than you really know — but why don’t you know? It may be because female entrepreneurs aren’t exactly discussed in the mainstream. If you hear about one, it’s usually a puff piece…a sort of “look what this one woman can do!” type of segment or article that discusses what she’s’ accomplished in spite of being “just a woman” instead of in spite of all the hurdles women have to overcome.

The next time you’re worried about your own struggles as a female entrepreneur, look to these shining examples of female power.

Sarah Blakely

If you’ve ever tugged on a pair of Spanx, you have this woman to thank. Known as one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in business, her shapewear invention has earned her $1 billion in profit over the years. Thanks to her inventive mind and a need for better undergarment options, Blakely cut up a pair of pantyhose and created the most innovative underwear since the push-up bra. Since her iconic invention, Blakely has created a privately owned company and has diversified into jeans and yoga materials.

Mary Kay Ash

If you’ve never heard of Mary Kay Cosmetics, you may have been living under a rock. Founder of the iconic makeup brand, Ash originally created her company in 1963. Ash married at 17, had three children with her first husband and then divorced him in 1945. She founded her makeup company in 1963, one month after the death of her husband that she had intended to go into business with. Despite her situation, Ash persevered and established herself as an incredible entrepreneur.

Sheryl Sandberg

Don’t immediately recognize this name? You may have read her critically acclaimed book “Lean In,” or you might frequent the little social media site that she’s the COO of: Facebook. One of the things Sandberg champions is female empowerment and entrepreneurship. Sandberg loves giving back to the community, even when faced with extreme hardships, like the sudden death of her beloved husband.

Arianna Huffington

Signed on as editor in chief of The Huffington Post through 2019, Arianna Huffington is one class act. Creating a blogging aggregate turned credible news site, Huffington has paved the way for budding journalist and thought influencers by giving them a great and wide platform to host their content. Huffington has had her ups and downs throughout her career, but she’s definitely come back swinging every time.

Jenny Craig

It’s hard to maintain a steady place in the weight loss industry, but Jenny Craig has been successful at being on top since she began her eponymous company. If there’s one thing to learn from Craig, it’s that adaptation is key to staying alive in business. Her company has changed throughout the years, keeping current and up to date with weight loss trends as they shift and evolve. Since the company was founded in 1983, Craig has branched out from Australia to over 700 weight management centres around the world.

How to Pump Up Your Startup’s Online Brand Image

Crafting a brand image is no easy feat. A lot of work must go into establishing a brand, let alone creating an image that stands out and is successful. Many new startups often falter because their image isn’t one that actually serves them well, and a brand image that fails a company often belongs to a company that fails.

All in all, a company’s brand image speaks to the audience as a first impression. Consumers make a lot of decisions based on a company’s branding, so it’s essentially that your own startup have a pumped up brand image that snags you success the first time around.

Narrow Down Your Target Market

A common mistake startups make is trying too hard to have “mass appeal.” Unless you have a tried and true company that has services and products that can truly appeal to all consumers, there’s no need to market to a broad audience.

Target markets aren’t just necessary to consider when it comes to marketing. Your brand image and representation speak to a demographic, but what demographic are they actually speaking to? A pumped up brand image is one that knows who it’s trying to access and succeeds at doing so.

Focus On Your Competition

How often do you check in on what your competition is doing? Don’t worry – you aren’t snooping around in an attempt to copy your rivals, but instead you need to focus on what your competition isn’t doing.

Simultaneously, it is good to see what your rivals are succeeding at. Do they have a bigger audience than you do? Why? It’s okay to mimic their branding successes as long as you put your own spin on them – copy the concepts, not the content. Also look at where they’re faltering and take advantage of these flaws by fixing the problems within your own branding schemas.

Determine Your Selling Point

What makes your brand unique? How do you differ from other startups and businesses out there? Establishing your uniqueness should be the cornerstone of any brand messaging. There are thousands of businesses out there that do the same things, but each one has something special that applies only to them – and if they don’t, they fail.

Your brand image should center on what differentiates you from everyone else. This is your selling point – so why not use it to do what it’s there for?

Get Help with Problem Areas

Most startups are incredibly understaffed. If your company is run out of your living room with help from you and three others, it’s very likely that you won’t have all of your marketing and branding bases covered. For instance, is someone in your startup a graphic designer? Is someone an expert on demographic studies?

When you have a weak point within your company, find a way to fix it. Good branding is visual and focuses on marketing psychology, and if you don’t have team members that perform these functions flawlessly then you’re already lagging behind.

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