Selling property, like a home, land, or a commercial building, sounds great to many. You’ll get some cash in your pocket and maybe make a profit compared to what you paid originally.

But before you list your property, there are some key things you need to know. In order to sell property, you need to prepare it. It needs to be in tip top shape, well decorated, and clean if you want to have the home sell. 

Here are just a few things you need to know before you sell property.

1. Home Inspection Services

Home inspection services aren’t only for buyers to worry about. Before  you put your home or property on the market, you should get a pre-listing inspection. 

A pre-listing inspection finds any problems or issues in the home that you can then fix  before putting it on the market. If you waited to find out during the buyer’s inspection, then the issues they find could quickly become dealbreakers and ruin the sale. 

You want your home to be in the best condition possible before you list it in order to attract buyers and finalize sales.

You’ll want to look for local services since they’ll know local architecture, connections, and common local problems best. Simply do a Google search and tack on your location at the end. For example, “home inspection Boston” instead of just “home inspection.”

2. Home Staging

Home staging helps you make your home look a bit more neutral so buyers can visualize themselves in the home. Home staging also “dresses up” your property to look the best that it can. 

This could mean taking away family photos or gaudy trinkets and replacing them with plants, updated art, tidying each room, moving around furniture, etc. There are professional home stagers that know exactly what makes a house sell (and what makes a house not sell).

If you can’t afford to hire a professional, there are plenty of online articles to help you out. We recommend this one.

3. Work with the Pros

As we mentioned before, professional home inspectors and home stagers can be great assets if you want to sell property the right way. 

We’d recommend working with a professional real estate agent or realtor as well. They know the local market best and will be able to help you advertise your listing, get through the permits and other red tape you’ll need, and they’ll be able to take a lot off of your plate so you can focus on other things.

4. Clean, Clean, Clean

Last, but certainly not least, is cleaning. The overall cleanliness and appearance of the property could literally make or break a sale. 

Cleaning can go right alongside your home staging efforts, as you’ll likely need to clean as you go anyway. Clean the floors, dust countertops, make sure beds are made and furniture looks neat, wipe windows & mirrors, vacuum, etc.

Also, don’t forget to clean all parts of the house. That means inside and outside the home. Curb appeal is so important when you sell property, so consider touching up any paint issues on the home, fence, mailbox, etc. Mow the lawn, plant some flowers, tidy up the garage, etc.

Take a moment to evaluate how you’re sitting or laying down right now. Are you slumped over? Is your neck slouched down looking at a screen? Is your back rounded and your shoulders slumped?

Don’t fret if you answered yes to those questions. Many of us struggle with maintaining good posture throughout the day. While this is a somewhat common problem, it’s also a pretty harmful one. Bad posture can lead to significant pain, muscle stiffness, joint issues, and more! 

In this post, we’re going over 4 tips on how to fix bad posture so you can stand up straight and get to living life without pain & stiffness!

1. See a Chiropractor

A back pain chiropractor, or even a more general chiropractic practitioner, is an excellent resource for fixing your posture. 

Chiropractors are medical professionals that work with the bones, muscles, and joints. They understand how bones are aligned and how misalignments can lead to significant pain. They also understand how conditions, injuries, and illnesses can affect your bones, muscles, and overall health.

Bad posture is a common denominator for many chiropractic visits. Chiropractors can help you identify why you’re feeling stiff or in pain in certain areas. They’ll also be able to look at your posture to see what can be improved and how.

A chiropractor can then perform a chiropractic back adjustment, FAKTR treatments, massage, and more to reduce pain and stiffness. They’ll also give you exercises and movements to do on your own to strengthen your muscles and aid in fixing your posture.

2. Get a New Office Chair

Did you know that the average American sits for 13 hours per day? Many of those hours are spent in an office or desk chair, and it’s here where many postural issues arise.

From slouching to slumping to leaning forward, office chairs are often the source of postural issues. While sitting in those chairs for short periods might not be as much of a problem, being confined to these chairs for 8 hours per day does have its negative effects on the body.

That’s why it’s crucial to find an ergonomic chair that works for you and your body. Don’t be afraid to go into a store to try out various office chair options. Find one that has proper back and neck support, one that has an adjustable height, and one that you feel most comfortable in.

3. Move Your Body

Sitting for hours per day doesn’t mean that our muscles don’t get fatigued. The muscles that keep us sitting or standing up can and do get fatigued after being used for a while. 

This can then lead to even worse posture over time, as the fatigue makes it harder to maintain proper posture.

Avoid this fatigue by switching up how and where you’re sitting, standing, etc. Take a five minute break to stand up and stretch. Go for a short walk around the house or around the block. Move to a different chair or room. 

Whatever you can do to move your body will help as you learn how to fix bad posture. 

4. Stay Mindful

Many people don’t even realize their posture is bad until someone points it out to them or they get a glimpse of their slouched back in the mirror.

Don’t get lazy or oblivious. Take time during the day to notice how you’re sitting, standing, and holding your body. 

Have you started to slouch down? What’s your neck position like? Do you feel any soreness you want to address? 

Stay mindful of how you’re treating and holding your body throughout the day to see where your postural problems lie and what you can do to avoid them. Staying mindful also helps you get back to the good posture and position you might’ve started the day with but slacked on as time went on. 

Listening to your body also helps you know when it’s time to go for a walk, when you need a snack, when you need a new chair, etc.

Alternative medicine refers to therapies, treatments, or diagnostic disciplines used alongside conventional medicine.

Despite the wording making it seem like alternative medicine isn’t practiced conventionally, almost 40 percent of adults use some sort of complementary and alternative medicine as a treatment, medicinal practice, or therapy.

If you’re thinking of going into the healthcare field and are considering alternative medicine careers, keep reading. We’re going over 4 of the most popular alternative medicine careers available to you including their average salary, required schooling, and other qualifications you’ll need.

1. Chiropractor

Chiropractic medicine is probably the most mainstream career on this list. Chiropractors care for patients with musculoskeletal issues including:

• Whiplash
• Sports injuries
• Scoliosis
• Pain and tension
• Disabilities
• Health problems

Chiropractors must earn a Doctor of Chiropractic degree. This is a 4-year degree similar to an MD. However, a chiropractic degree is focused on: 

-Musculoskeletal issues

-Chiropractic treatments

-Specific chiropractic techniques

Common treatments include:

• Chiropractic back adjustment
• Spinal manipulations
• Massage
• Therapeutic ultrasound
• Ice therapy

Many chiropractors are self-employed and open their own practices. However, chiropractic care is becoming more widely accepted and used. More opportunities are popping up with jobs looking to grow 7 percent in the next 10 years (which is faster than the national average).

You can also expect to earn a decent salary: chiropractors in Massachusetts, for example, earn a median salary of $163,000.

2. Herbalist

Herbalists (also known as herbal practitioners) are medical professionals trained in herbal medicine. Herbal medicine uses herbs, plants, and the study of botany in order to treat illness, injuries, pain, and more. 

Western medicine considers herbalists to be alternative medicine practitioners. However, herbal medicine and herbalism practices have been in use for thousands of years. That’s much longer than our current “conventional” medicine has been around.

Today, about 80 percent of the world population still uses herbal medicine as a key part of their healthcare. 

Herbalists use various types of plants, seeds, roots, bark, herbs, and other botanicals for medicinal purposes. This includes supplementation, treating injuries/illness, and for prevention. Herbalists must be licensed, which requires schooling and clinical work.

You can also further specialize into manufacturing supplements, growing herbs/plants for herbalism practices, and becoming a teacher. Many herbalists also have four-year degrees in STEM subjects, botany, traditional medicine, or plant studies. Average salary ranges from $46,000 to $69,000.

3. Acupuncturist

Acupuncture is one of the oldest medicinal practices. It’s thought to have originated in China in 100 BC. It didn’t reach the west until the 17th century with the first recorded practice in Europe in 1810. 

Acupuncture uses very small and thin needles that are used to puncture the skin at specific points. It’s believed that these specific points or areas when stimulated with acupuncture needles can allow your body’s energy to flow properly. This is thought to release tension, relieve pain, and even help treat a variety of illnesses & conditions.

Many studies support the idea of acupuncture relieving pain. Not much scientific evidence exists to support other claims. However, there’s a lot of personal evidence that acupuncture treated illness, condition, and symptoms of a variety of complaints. 

To become a professional acupuncturist, you’ll need to complete an accredited acupuncturist program. 

Once that’s complete, you’ll need to pass a state licensing exam. The average salary for an acupuncturist varies based on the state you live in, but it tends to range between $74,000 and $80,000.

4. Massage Therapist

Are you surprised to see “massage therapist” on this list of alternative medicine careers? Not that many people realize that massage therapy is more than something to treat yourself with after a long week of work. 

It’s actually considered a type of alternative medicine. In fact, many insurance companies cover massage therapy for a variety of ailments and injuries.

Massage ranges in applications. There are massage therapists that specifically work in salons and parlors. Medical massage therapists are also employed by workplaces, hospitals, doctors offices, and chiropractors.

Massage has many proven health benefits, including:

• Stress relief
• Improved circulation
• Pain relief
• Boosted flexibility
• Increased immunity

Massage therapists make a median salary of $51,000.

Did you know that just about half of all adults use the Internet in order to find and evaluate healthcare professionals? This means that your web presence as a healthcare professional can directly impact how successful your practice is! 

So how can you use marketing and SEO to improve your ranking as a chiropractor specifically? In this post, we’re going over chiropractor SEO along with a few simple things you can do to improve your overall strategy.

1. Focus on Local SEO

When searching for a doctor or a chiropractor, most people do regional searches. What does that mean? Instead of searching for “chiropractor” they’ll search for “chiropractor near me” or “chiropractor [insert city and state here.”

Knowing this, you need to take advantage of that local SEO and those local searches. If you’re in Massachusetts and own a Weymouth chiropractic clinic, for example, you want to make sure to include things like “back pain Weymouth” and “Weymouth chiropractor” in your keywords, on your website, in your blog posts, and more. 

This allows patients in your area to find you. If you are using more generic and non-local terms and people looking for a chiropractor 5 states over find you, that doesn’t help you or them. Focusing your website, keywords, and content on local SEO is the best bet for chiropractors and other healthcare professionals.

2. Do Your (Keyword) Research!

Speaking of keywords, you need to do keyword research to understand how patients are finding your website, what keywords people are searching for in your area, and what keywords you want associated with your website that you can feasibly rank for. 

For example, if you specialize in sports medicine, check out keywords like “sports chiropractor” or “sports injury [inset location here]”. If you specialize in treating certain conditions, include those conditions or disorders in your search.

Also be sure to optimize these keywords for your geographical or regional location to keep aligned with your local SEO. 

Chiropractors also often use keywords that relate to their services or treatment methods. Things like “spinal adjustment”, “neck pain treatment”, “spine decompression”, “physical therapy”, and more can be further optimized to your local area to really represent you and your practice.

Once you have your list of keywords, you can start to incorporate them throughout your site on pages, copy, alt tags, meta descriptions, URLs, blog posts, and more. This will help you site appear when potential patients search those keywords, which can boost your rank and drive traffic to your site. 

3. Chiropractor SEO: Get on Social Media

Social media is a huge part of SEO. You might be thinking, “what place does a chiropractor or a doctor have on Instagram, Twitter, etc?” 

Social media can help you link back to your website, gain exposure, traffic, and basically get your name out there. 

Instagram and YouTube are especially popular for chiropractors in particular. People have a fascination with chiropractic care and love to see video demonstrations of techniques, adjustments, and more. 

Take the Instagram account @drcody_dc, for example. He has over 220,000 followers on Instagram where he mainly showcases short videos of chiropractic adjustments and “cracks.” 

This allows patients to see the doctor at work as well as the relief and positive testimonials of the patients featured. This boosts brand recognition, trust, and shares on the Internet, which can boost your SEO ranking and overall traffic.

You should be on all of the big social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube especially. 

4. Get on Directories

Local and national directories can boost your ranking on SEO. Yellowpages, Yelp, Google My Business, Bing Places, and Apple Maps name just a few of the hundreds of directories out there. You could also get on local ones like eLocal and ezLocal.

This does a few things for you. First of all, it allows you to insert a link to your website (called a backlink), which can greatly improve your SEO ranking. You can also add short descriptions of your practice to include your keywords and local information. 

This is a super quick and easy way to both boost your rankings, get some backlinks, and make sure accurate information about your practice (hours, locations, services, etc) is out there for your patients to find!

Are you, a loved one, or a partner pregnant? First thing’s first: congratulations!

Now that we’ve said that, let’s get to the emotion that likely comes second to excitement: nerves. Anxiety is common when a little one is on the way, perhaps especially for the person carrying the child. Your body is about to go through some of the most incredible, and uncomfortable changes, that it can experience.

The good news is that there are ways to help with common pregnancy symptoms without affecting your growing baby. In this post, we’re going over ways you can start dealing with pregnancy symptoms safely and naturally. 

Let’s get started! 

Back Pain

About 50-70 percent of women experience back pain during pregnancy. This makes sense: the extra weight of the growing fetus puts a lot of pressure on your back, and you’ll likely walk, sit, and stand differently, which can lead to tension and pain. Hormonal changes, stress, and additional weight also can cause back pain.

The problem is that many pregnant women cannot take pain medication because of the effects it can have on the growing baby. It’s also difficult to mitigate this pain since there’s no way to adjust hormone levels or reduce the weight that you put on.

There are natural ways you can help with this back pain, though! The first is specific stretches and exercises that can reduce back pain. You can find some examples of those here.

Dr. Scott Rosner, a certified chiropractor and owner of Weymouth Chiropractic Clinic, also suggests that pregnant women try chiropractic care to reduce their pregnancy related back pain. Chiropractic adjustments can greatly reduce pregnancy related back pain without the need for invasive treatments or medication that can affect the baby.

Other options for back pain include staying hydrated, avoiding high heels, support belts, and resting often.

Nausea and Vomiting

Perhaps the most well-known symptom of pregnancy is morning sickness, which can actually occur at any time of the day. This includes both nausea and vomiting; it’s experienced by about 85 percent of pregnant people.

This is usually confined to the first trimester of pregnancy, but some people can experience nausea and vomiting throughout their pregnancy. 

Eating small meals more often is one easy way to manage this common pregnancy symptom. You should also pay attention to what foods trigger your nausea as this can vary wildly from person to person.

Staying hydrated can also reduce your feelings of nausea. Drink water, ginger tea (great for nausea), and things with electrolytes to replenish yourself (especially if you find that you’re vomiting often). Smelling fresh scents can also help reduce nausea.

Distraction is another great tool. Sitting there thinking about how sick you feel will only make you feel sicker. Try reading a book, taking a walk, doing a puzzle, and other mind stimulating activities to take your thoughts away from the queasiness.

Heartburn

Hormonal changes during pregnancy cause your stomach valve to become more relaxed, which can allow the stomach acid to rise up your esophagus and cause heartburn. As the baby grows and pushes on your stomach, this can also force more acid up, resulting in worsening heartburn as your pregnancy progresses.

Avoid heartburn-inducing foods like citrus, tomatoes, chocolate, caffeine, garlic, onion, and other acidic foods. You should also avoid lying down after eating for at least 30 minutes. 

Smaller meals can also reduce your heartburn as well as reducing nausea. There are also medications you can take for some relief, but speak to your doctor or midwife before starting. 

Constipation

Many common pregnancy symptoms are thanks to hormonal changes, and constipation is no exception. As progesterone levels rise during pregnancy, this can cause your intestines to contract less, which means fewer bowel movements and increased constipation. 

Hydration is going to be key for this and other symptoms on this list. Try to drink at least 2 liters of liquid per day. If you’re finding it hard to drink all of that water (especially with the pressure of the baby on your bladder), try eating hydrating foods like watermelon, cucumber, and other fruits.

Fiber is also super helpful for reducing constipation. Increase your intake of fruits and veggies, and talk with your doctor or midwife about taking a fiber supplement and/or a stool softener. 

Fatigue

Pregnancy is hard work! Not only is it more weight to carry around combined with stress, but the hormonal changes you experience also induce fatigue.

The best advice you can take is to allow yourself to be tired! Take naps, rest when you need to, and make sure you’re getting at least 8 hours of sleep at night. Energy levels usually pick up after the first trimester ends, but just allow yourself to rest when you need and sleep as much as possible.

Remember, once the baby is born, you won’t be getting much sleep anyway!

Try These Tips for Common Pregnancy Symptoms

If you don’t experience any or all of these symptoms, don’t worry! You’re just one of the lucky ones.

If you are experiencing these common pregnancy symptoms, hopefully these tips help mitigate some of the discomfort. Just remember that you have a ton of support and there’s a ton of advice and information out there to help you through this amazing time of your life.