Positive and Negative Reinforcement

Welcome to this week’s RBT Task list overview. Today, we will continue to discuss reinforcement by going in a little deeper to positive and negative reinforcement.

Often written as RF, we know a reinforcer is always used when you want to make a behavior stronger, so basically you want that appropriate behavior to happen more often; but what makes it positive or negative?

Let’s get started…..

What is it? Remember in elementary school, when we were first introduced to the plus sign (+) for addition and the minus sign (-) for subtraction, it works the same way in reinforcement. Those same signs, (+) and (-) were taught to us again as we went to chemistry in high school, but now the signs were called positive (+) and negative(-)

When you add (+) something to the environment to increase the likelihood of a behavior happening again in the future, its called positive reinforcement. When you take away, or subtract, something from the environment to increase the likelihood of a behavior happening again, it’s called negative reinforcement. Its that simple!

Example: Positive– Angela gives her son $1 each time he cleans the bathroom without being asked. (The $1 is added to the environment, to increase the chances that her son will continue to clean the bathroom without being asked.) Negative– Cliff enjoys eating spicy nachos at the ball game, spicy nachos have given Cliff heartburn in the past. Cliff now takes antacid to avoid getting heartburn, (Removing the heartburn, increases the likelihood that Cliff will enjoy nachos in the future) Check out this video of RF+(-)

As you study.…As you study for the exam*, see if you can identify what makes the reinforcement positive or negative by spotting what is being added or taken away from the environment to increase a behavior.

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Until next week, Happy ABAing.

P.S Go to BossLadyBLOOMS RBT Exam Tutoring to schedule a live, one on one tutoring session, each session comes with at least one free practice exam.*

Reinforcement RF

Welcome to the first weekly newsletter of BossLadyBLOOMS RBT Exam Tutoring. If you are studying to pass the RBT exam or want a refresher on when and how to use skills on the RBT task list, you are in the right place.

Today we will start with the basics; reinforcement(RF) We will review the definition and discuss when is the best time to use it.

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Let’s get started….

What is a reinforcer? According to definition**, a reinforcer is the most important concept in human behavior; it shapes how we behave on a daily basis. A reinforcer is any item, tangible or not, that a person likes enough to increase the likelihood of a certain behavior happening again in the future, if given access to said item.

Example: If a doorman is given $20* each time he opens the door for a customer, the doorman will likely open the door for each customer in the future.

When to use….Use a reinforcer when teaching a new skill and when you want an appropriate behavior to happen again in the future.

As you study.…Notice that section C, of the RBT Task List, is for teaching skill acquisition, understanding reinforcement is required for this section of skills.

Over the next few weeks, you will learn positive and negative reinforcement, conditioned vs unconditioned reinforcement, continuous reinforcement and finally, the schedules of reinforcement.

Remember to subscribe, like and comment on this article…. and don’t forget to check out our Facebook page.

Until next week, Happy ABAing.

P.S Go to BossLadyBLOOMS RBT Exam Tutoring to schedule a live, one on one tutoring session.

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*RF+

**Definition provided by BeamABA and HowtoABA

The shortest day….

The winter solstice is traditionally known as a day for telling stories and learning new things…its the perfect day to stay home and read and learn something new. I have always understood the concepts of “never stop learnings” and “don’t be afraid to be bad at something new”. I’m a HUGE advocate for education and learning at any age, so use today, the shortest day of the year, as your new beginning and start learning new things. Happy learning!!

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Until next time…..

Check us out here——BossladyBlooms

Three Ways to Stay Up When Sales are Down.

I’m sure everyone has read somewhere lately the harsh question “Is your business inflation proof?” This question has appeared on most entrepreneur and small business magazines, websites and all over social media. And the answer is a resounding NO!

No business is inflation proof. There is no such thing. With the increase in prices on everything from meat to milk, from travel tickets to gas, no….we are not inflation proof.

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But let’s discuss how to keep your small business in the black when the economy around us goes haywire.

Emergency fund

Rainy day fund, emergency fund, separate savings account; whatever you decide to call it, every small business owner should have one. This set aside money should be specifically for your small business emergencies, and it would be unrealistic to think that there will never be a time that a crisis will arise. This money can be used to order supplies, pay your employees, or to pay business related bills. As tempting as it is to have this extra money, it should only be used to save your business.

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Cut down on expenses

Business expenses are part of the small business world. You will have to by more products, pay for advertising, and so on and so forth. Cutting down as much as possible when the money coming in is less can make or break a small business. Start by searching for the best bargain when buying products. Even if you have bought products from the same manufacture for years, if they are not the lowest price for the quality, you should look to changing who you buy from. Marketing can sometimes be the most expensive service you pay for. You may find that one way to limit your spending for it is to regurgitate some older ads or marketing strategies. Find the ones that worked in the past and reuse them. You would be in good company. Have you seen the commercials on tv lately ? At least 40% of them are from the past.

Sales and Discounts

Having a sale is always a good idea, even when things are good. Sales get old customers buying and new customers in. You don’t have to always put your entire inventory on sale. Mark down the price of certain well liked items or services for a certain amount of time. Offer coupons for a percentage off their next purchase, to get the customers coming to you again. I’m not talking about giving away the store here, just a small decline to get customers buying your product or service.

Plan ahead

The absolute best advice I’ve ever received pertaining to my small business is to plan for the worst and work for the best. Have a plan for when things go south and when money is tight. Plan it out and document it. Share that plan with your employees so that everyone is on the same page when the plan needs to be put into effect.

In conclusion, small businesses will fluctuate. You may go from making 6-figures one month to making $6 the next. You will have to stay motivated and keep moving forward for your business to work. The bottom line is don’t be afraid to do whatever it takes to keep your business afloat.

Until Next time, wishing you all the best in your business.

Come out and network with other small businesses

thebusinesssquad2021@gmail.com

Three ways an email list can help your business.

The secret is out! Having an email list is one of the fastest and most affective ways to reach your current customers and attract new ones. There is no magic formula to having or growing and email list, but here are three ways that having one will help your business.

Building Your email list

One simple way to start and grow your email list is to ask people to join. You can make and share a post on your social media sites and ask people to join by emailing you. For example, if you have a social media page for your business, post on it asking people to “email yourbusiness@email.com for more information on your business”. You can dress that sentence up however you want to, the main objective is to get emails of people who are interested in your business.

The offer

Now that you have an email list, no matter the size, give them a special offer in exchange for joining. This offer doesn’t have to be anything too elaborate but something to keep them interested and to open your emails on a regular basis. One of my favorite things to offer is free or early access to my new stuff. If you have a product, maybe a sneak peak at a new item or a discounted early bird price.

Marketing using your email list

Marketing using an email list means you have you customers undivided attention to pitch your business. Unlike social media, there is no competition in your email list, its all yours, and everyone on it has the same interest, your business. Use that attention to present new offers, upsale or to get out information about your business.

It’s that simple

Nothing is difficult about building an email and using it to help your business. The main step is to get started. Sending a simple email to people who already have an interest in your business is the quickest and easiest way to make a sell. Just a word of caution…. avoid long drawn out emails that lead no where. Always have a landing page where your customers can see more and do more, and by “do more” I mean buy something.

Until next time… wishing you all the best in your business.

My Amazon favorites of the week!!

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Make Monday Your best day for business…

How will you spend your Monday evening? No, no, not your weekend, but your Monday evening…💜

Monday is a day that most people dread  as early as Sunday evening.  If you are one of those people, making a few changes to what actually happens on a Monday may be beneficial.

Plan for Monday

Monday is the first day of the work week and should set the tone for the rest of the week.  One major move is to have a plan for Monday.  Write down your goals for the day, for just Monday.  Assign Monday a specific task and stick to it.  I personally make Monday my bank and paperwork day.  If this day has a task, you know ahead of time what to expect.

Stop judging Monday

Another way to make Monday a best business day, is to stop making Monday the bad guy.  Monday is just another day. Other than it being farthest from Friday, it has no ill will.  This goes back to your entrepreneurial mindset.  If you think positive things will happen on Monday, positive things will happen on Monday.

Monday Evenings

If you, like other small business owner, make Monday your longest work day, its time to change that.  End Monday on a good note and at the regular end of business day.   Most business people are not Monday fans, because they pile all of their to-do list into one long day.  Plan to end Monday by spending time with friends or family.  Go straight home to be with your family, go have a drink with friends, or maybe go  work out or whatever it is you like to do.  But having something fun and positive to look forward to on a Monday puts it in a more positive light.

Bloom every Day

As an entrepreneur, every day is important to your growing business.  Don’t allow the name of a day, or its position on your calendar to limit what you do with it. Use it to continue to build your empire.  From here forward, lets make Monday the best day for doing business.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Keep BLOOMing 🌺

#bossLady out💜

Here are a few businesses to check out: 

BossLadyBlooms RBT Exam Tutoring 

CapsHatsNMoreGalore   

4 things to have in place when making your side business your main income.

Any one with a small business looks forward to the day that your dreams become reality and your small business takes off and becomes your number one source of income. The ultimate goal of being your own boss can happen and can be rewarding, if you have these four things in place.

COURAGE and Discipline

Not having the safety net of a traditional job, can be scary, and make the transition from employee to owner worrisome. Stepping out to be your own boss takes courage, as well as discipline. More often than not, if you have the courage to start, own and operate your own business, than you already have the courage to take this grand step.

Discipline, on the other hand, may take some practice. As an employee with a side hustle, we tend to be more laxed with working on our own business because we have the security of having a steady paycheck. When you are the owner, you have to be disciplined to handle your business, well, like a business.

Have set open and closing times and stick to them; opening late or closing early may cause you to miss customers and lose money. This, as well as proper customer service and providing your product or service as promised, are disciplines a small business owner can not waiver.

Having an emergency fund

Without the security of a steady paycheck, when you decide to stop being an employee to be your own boss, you will need emergency money. Unforeseen things can and will happen, and having a few extra dollars in place for just those types of things can make a big difference. Have an emergency fund specifically for your business. You don’t want to empty your personal savings, for a business emergency.

Have a plan

Have a plan in place well before your exit to business ownership. Talk to your current customers, let them know you will be working independently now. Have a grand opening that lets people know that you are in full time business now. Have a plan to market your self as a small business owner open for full time business. Be willing to be flexible, but firm. Now that you are a full time business, you will deal with people on a full time basis, and some may come with demands and bad attitudes, plan to deal with that in a professional manner.

Have a back up plan

Have a back up plan. Your business may not come out the gate making tens of thousands of dollars the first few months that you are in full time business, but that’s not reason to throw in the towel. A back up plan may include, doing a revamp on your budget, to limit the amount of out going expenses. A back up plan may also include not hiring extra full time staff until profits are better.

Even if your back up plan includes getting a part time job, don’t let that deter you from building, owning and operating the small business of your dreams.

GO FOT IT!!

You have a small business, an emergency fund, a plan and a back up plan. Now just go for it! Its going to be scary, its going to take courage and discipline, but its going to be worth it.

All the best in your business.

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Why you should add an eBook to your business.

EBooks are all the rave right now. People are creating ebooks with recipes, how to manuals, children’s books and the list could go on. What that tells me is that ebooks must be going well and must be helping people reach more people.

What is an ebook?

An ebook is  text presented in a format which allows it to be read on a computer or handheld device. Simple put, its read on a screen rather than from book cover to cover. Ebooks are made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices as defined by Wikipedia.

Why are eBooks important to your business

Marketing

For most service based businesses, ebooks can help explain what your so. Businesses can cover specific topics in great detail with eBooks. Creating eBooks is the best technique to improve the depth of your content marketing plan. If your information is delivered in the form of an eBook that they can download and read whenever they have free time, your target audience will consume more content.

Grow your email list

eBooks are by far the most effective approach to expand your email list. You should always demand an email address in order to obtain access to an eBook. This is known as “gated content,” and it will help you fast expand your email list. Because eBooks purchased from your website are delivered via email, it’s only logical to ask for an email address in exchange for your free, or even paid, eBook. It’s far easier to grow your email list with eBooks than it is with blog post subscriptions.

Establish yourself as an expert

Your business can use eBooks to position your brand as the expert in your industry. Potential consumers begin to identify your brand with the entire category when you become an industry authority. They have faith in your company and are far more likely to purchase what you have to offer.

Personal experience

Writing my first ebook was a bit overwhelming to me. Although it was written as a children’s fiction book, it was only roughly based on the work I actually do. It gave me a better understanding as to how an ebook can help your business expand.

I do plan to write a new ebook, a study guide, that will go hand and hand with my online tutoring and my YouTube channel.

 

If you choose to add an ebook to your business, take your time, if done right way, it can bring in customers and more money to your business.

5 Ways to Gain an Entrepreneurial Mindset

What is an entrepreneurial mindset?

According to Entrepreneurial Magazine, this type of mindset is a thought process and way of looking at the world in a way that strengthens an entrepreneur’s behavior. Basically, thinking in a way that ignites you to bring what you believe can happen into real life.

Entrepreneurs and business people are given the same 24 hours as everyone else, its what they choose to do in those hours, that makes them stand out. I have researched and talked to small business owners who all have these five things in come on how to gain the entrepreneurial mindset.

Never stop learning

Number one thing that helps to develop a business owners mindset, is to prioritize learning and growth. Most business owners, learn more than just how to do their current objective. They continue to learn and surround themselves with people who are also educated. Most entrepreneurs may not have a large amount of upper education degrees, but what they do have is the will to learn and the intelligence to know that they should never stop learning.

Set Realistic Goals

Second, is setting goals. Entrepreneurs do not become successful by setting the bar low. They developed a realistic plan to reach that goal and work towards it daily. The goal for any business owner is to make money. Money to support their on going business as well as to support the lives and lifestyles of themselves and their family. An entrepreneurial mindset is established by determining habits, that when done consistently, move you closer to your ultimate goal.

Being Uncomfortable

Being a business owner is a hard and uncomfortable undertaking. There is a large chance that you will face rejections, taking unforeseen risk and sometimes even failure. The third way to gain an entrepreneurs mindset is to get comfortable in the uncomfortable. Putting yourself in unfamiliar situations, will force you to think and therefore grow. In any business venture the only way to find out if something works, is to take the risk, be uncomfortable but do it anyway. If you fail, you learn from the failure, be uncomfortable and try again.

Learn From Failure

This brings us to our next way to gain an entrepreneurial mindset; to embrace risk and failure. We have all heard the statement failure is the best teacher, and its true. Taking risk has two outcomes, you win and move forward or you fail. With failure comes the chance to think of new strategies for the next try.

The Company You Keep

Lastly, we gain the mindset of an entrepreneur, by spending time with other people who have the same mindset in which you want to have. If you surround yourself with people who are positive thinking, have a positive energy and embrace the work ethic it takes to build a business, that same optimism will become a part of you as well.

Final Thoughts

The five ways listed will move you in the right direction for gaining an entrepreneurial mindset. Your mindset is the ultimate entity that determines if you are successful or not. There is no shortcut, hard work, research and all are in vain if you don’t have the correct thinking to know that you will reach your goal.

Wishing you all the best in business,

The Business Squad

The Business Squad is an organization created to unite, educate and empower small business owners to be successful. If you are looking for a likeminded, positive accountability partner, we have a whole SQUAD. Contact us at thebusinesssquad2021@gmail.com, for updates on our small business classes, upcoming events or just to chat.

Success starts with YOU!

I am always doing research and follow up stories on how to improve my life, my experiences and the world around me.  And so far I have found that the common denominator among successful people is taking care of yourself first.  Its difficult to make decisions, about business or otherwise, if you are not at 100% with yourself.

“All work and no self-care makes for an unhappy Black Woman”-Rosetta Thurman..-founder and CEO of Happy Black Woman.

“taking care of yourself is the best selfish thing you can do”-Oprah Winfrey 

I enjoy my work both as an educator , organization founder and a blogger,  But I know at some point I have to ‘turn off” and relax and take care of myself.  I see a lot of fellow educators, leaving the school often times three or four hours after school has ended for the day, then they take home bundles of work to do at home. Doing this day after day can be extremely  exhausting.

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Its okay to do for others, but make sure you’re putting that same energy into yourself.  What does your self care consist of?

Below is a list of self care ideas that can help you relax and enjoy yourself. Rather you run a fortune 500 company, a small business or your home, you need to be in top notch shape to do your best.

Don’t hesitate to show yourself some love.  Its OK to put yourself first. Success comes with taking care of you.

Mondays are always a good day to start something new, try making it a Monday routine to carve out some “me” time for yourself.

Below are a few of my favorite things to help me with my own self care journey.

I love yoga.  These yoga pants are the perfect material and fit for all my newly learned stretches and poses.  This candle, which I first received as a gift, sets an ambiance of relaxation. I use it when I’m relaxing in the tub, also when I am reading and just want to enjoy the fragrance.

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Self care should be a habit no matter what your lifestyle is. Be aware of what your body tells you. If you need rest, do it. Never take your health, mental, emotional, or physical health for granted. Self care is important.

Until next time….