<ul class="summary-list"><li>An excellent humidifier can make your home's air much more comfortable to breathe, particularly when the air becomes too dry. </li><li>There are a number of great humidifiers to choose from, but our top pick is the <a href="https://amzn.to/2thj9E2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Pure Enrichment Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier</a> because it's stylish, inexpensive, and versatile enough to suit most people's needs.</li></ul>When the air gets too dry, it could lead to health issues like bloody noses, cracked lips, itchy skin, and more. Not only that, it can be uncomfortable to breathe in dry air. This is common during cold weather when a home is heated, and besides making our bodies feel discomfort, low humidity could also damage porous things like wooden furniture and framed art. Which is why an air humidifier can help.A humidifier is an electrical appliance that uses water to humidify the air. Humidifiers come in different shapes and sizes, but for this guide, we focused on portable units that are affordable and can be easily purchased. Still, there are various types of portable humidifiers.Hot or cold?In general, humidifiers are divided into "warm mist" and "cool mist." Warm-mist humidifiers release moisture into the air by heating it, which kills bacteria in the water. But, if there are children or animals in the house, warm-mist humidifiers can be hazardous because of how hot the appliance gets, as well as the potential for accidentally spilled hot water.Within the cool-mist humidifier segment, there are three types:<ul><li>Ultrasonic humidifiers use high-frequency waves to split water drops into particles, which are then released into the room.</li><li>Evaporative humidifiers take the room's air and pass it through a filter with water in it, creating a mist. That mist is then blown out the other end of the humidifier.</li><li>Impeller humidifiers are similar to ultrasonic humidifiers, but instead of using ultrasonic waves, they break-up water drops using a rotating disc. These humidifiers operate louder than the others.</li></ul>Which option you choose depends on your environment. The Mayo Clinic <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/common-cold/expert-answers/cool-mist-humidifiers/faq-20058199" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recommends cool-mist humidifiers</a> if you have children, because of the aforementioned safety concerns. It also said both cool-mist and warm-mist humidifiers are equally effective. However, cool-mist humidifiers require more cleaning because they have a higher chance of bacteria and mold growth. It's also recommended that distilled or purified water be used instead of tap water.As mentioned, warm-mist humidifiers disperse steam by heating water, rather than using a fan. They're quieter and they can heat up small rooms, according to appliance maker, Luma Comfort. However, they also require more energy to operate. There are pros and cons to both, and the best option will depend on your needs.We looked at a variety of humidifiers to find the best ones, at a variety of price points.<h2>Here are the best humidifiers you can buy:</h2><ul class="summary-list"><li>Best humidifier overall: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013IJPTFK/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biipgf_062717_best-humidifiers-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B013IJPTFK&amp;linkId=459ca5fc460428936e9e851138e08c47" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Pure Enrichment Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier</a></li><li>Best warm mist humidifier: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FWXKTA/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biipgf_062717_best-humidifiers-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B001FWXKTA&amp;linkId=3e0d9eb0993a8a65c714fb56be34c78f" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Vicks Warm Mist Humidifier</a></li><li>Best humidifier for large rooms: <a href="http://goto.target.com/c/196318/81938/2092?subId1=biipgf_062717_best-humidifiers&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fp%2Fsunpentown-dual-mist-ion-exchange-filter-humidifier-spt-su-4010%2F-%2FA-10538248" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow nofollow">Sunpentown SPT SU-4010 Humidifier</a></li><li>Best germ-free humidifier: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002QAYJPO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biipgf_062717_best-humidifiers-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B002QAYJPO&amp;linkId=0f8cc9e1a035798f8367a5a3140f9eab" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Honeywell HCM350W Humidifier</a></li></ul>Updated on 12/11/2019: Updated pricing, links, and formatting. We are currently researching and testing new options for a future update.<a href="http://e.businessinsider.com/join/ci/insider-picks">Subscribe to our newsletter.</a> Find all the best offers at our <a href="https://coupons.businessinsider.com/">Coupons page</a>. Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/insiderpicks">Insider Picks</a> team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at insiderpicks@businessinsider.com.

The best humidifiers

Founded only in 2010, Chinese smartphonemaker <keyword id="874458" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Xiaomi">Xiaomi</keyword> is already a big name in the smartphone sector and the company seems to have gotten its hands on the magic potion to succeed in India. Xiaomi forayed into the India market in 2014, at a time when Indian consumers were almost desperately looking for an affordable yet reliable smartphone, it took the Indian consumer much longer to learn how to pronounce the company’s name than grab a Mi phone online. At the time when Xiaomi entered India over 50% of the phones in the market were under Rs. 6000 budget phones, Xiaomi decided to come with mid range phones and it almost instantaneously became the perfect device to upgrade for all the low-end phone users. <keyword id="1470923" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Manu-Jain">Manu Jain</keyword>, Vice President, Xiaomi and Managing Director, Xiaomi India said, “Xiaomi India has seen exponential growth in India and today it enjoys market leadership in the smartphone segment. I believe a key reason for our success in the smartphone segment has been our commitment to India.” For Xiaomi, It was all about the pricing and timing happened to be perfect. Right from a massive start to now, Xiaomi has had a smooth ride in India. Xiaomi is now the second largest smartphone vendor in India and <keyword id="6377157" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="IDC">IDC</keyword> has ranked Xiaomi India as number one smartphone brand in India in Q3 2017. Xiaomi has now announced its third manufacturing plant in India and the first facility only for power banks. This manufacturing plant is in partnership with Hipad Technology spread across 2.3 lakh square feet. With the timing of this announcement Xiaomi is also playing a bigger part for one of the most important initiatives of the government - ‘Make in India’. This year has been extremely important for Xiaomi in India as it also opened exclusive Xiaomi stores called <keyword id="4539022" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="mi-homes">Mi Homes</keyword> in the country. In China, the stores are usually experiential whereas in <keyword id="3671884" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="india-xiaomi">India Xiaomi</keyword> has gone for mostly smaller stores with products limited mainly to phones and phone accessories. However the company has announced setting up of 100 Mi homes across India within two years. A move that’s sure to benefit the company in terms of reaching out to the smaller regions in the country where e-commerce is almost non-existent. With broadband connectivity across India improving, it is going to be very important for smartphone makers to tap the new smartphone users in the tier two and tier three cities. The online market for smartphones have reached a saturation point therefore it has become critical for smartphone brands such as Xiaomi to up their Offline presence. This has also helped the company provide dedicated space for experiencing the Mi products that were earlier more known to the online consumers mainly. Xiaomi internationally invests in many small companies and work with them to build a range of products for Mi Ecosystem. Mi Ecosystem includes a variety of smart products for the home like air purifier, water purifier, rice cooker etc. Of all the Mi Ecosystem products, Xiaomi has so far only launched the Mi air Purifier in India and the timing again was perfect as it was clear that quality of air in Delhi was deteriorating. The pricing of the air purifier again is highly competitive as it is priced below Rs. 10,000. This pricing in some ways has also raised awareness about the product category as air purifiers were not really considered a necessary home appliance in Indian homes. But Xiaomi still hasn’t bought half of the product range it has in China to India; some of their more popular products in China like <keyword id="2944432" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mi-TV">Mi TV</keyword> and Mi <keyword id="2809758" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ninebot">Ninebot</keyword> have still not made it to India market. And Xiaomi is only getting started in India, the company is planning to bring almost all products to India eventually. the consumers or the “Mi fans” as they are called have been eagerly waiting for bigger launches like Mi Tv and Mi Ninebot, while Ninebot could be a challenge given the condition of the roads here in India but Xiaomi is working on putting together perfect content to go with their TVs as of course product, pricing and timing should all align for Xiaomi to take the next big step.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi seems to have found the secret to succeed in India

<ul><li>Snapdeal added 6 million new buyers on its platform during the pandemic.</li><li>Its recent 5-day sale kicked-off on October 16 and ended on October 20. </li><li>Rajnish Wahi, Senior Vice President, Snapdeal tells us some of the trends the platform saw during its pre-Diwali sale, its plan to go deeper into Bharat and USPs that helped it stand out in the clutter of online sales. </li></ul>Indian consumers have always been value-conscious, who take pride in their haggling skills and with the pandemic, buyers are expecting greater value for their spends. Therefore, e-commerce player Snapdeal’s sale, which took place between October 16 to 20, focused on offering ‘Kum Mein Dum Diwali,’ i.e., value deals for lesser money. According to Snapdeal, less than 5% percent of retail is online and during this on-going <keyword id="36208" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="festive-season">festive season</keyword>, the platform’s aim is to bring more users online and give them strong reasons to switch. Snapdeal observed that consumers weren’t willing to buy premium brands this year and wanted to access the online platforms in their regional language. So, as other e-commerce platforms offered premium brands at a discounted price, Snapdeal wanted to make online shopping more inclusive for buyers across India. It focused more on non-metro cities, which is a market with potential 400 million users and shipped orders to rural places like Palasner in Maharashtra, Abdasa in Gujarat, Kalsi in Uttarakhand, Chitkul in Himachal among many others. Ahead of the sale, Snapdeal added 1300 new pin codes to go deeper into Bharat, areas which were previously unserviceable or where users were compelled to travel to nearby towns to collect their orders. It also updated its user interface by adding eight languages including Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Gujarati, Punjabi, and Marathi. As a result, 70% of its orders were received by sellers located beyond the top 5 metropolitan areas of the country and 90% of its orders were placed from non-metro cities. We caught up with Rajnish Wahi, Senior Vice President, Snapdeal to further understand some of trends that the platform saw during its sale. Excerpts: Q. The role of engagement and communication has never been more important, especially in today’s digital-first world. How are you making sure your communication during this year's sale is relevant to consumers? Snapdeal is sharply focused on catering to the value-conscious consumers, who see e-commerce as the connecting link between their aspirations, access and affordability. Our theme for this year’s festive sale - “Kum Mein Dum Diwali '' clearly communicates our core message - your shopping rupee has more value this year. As part of our sale preparations, we had conducted a survey of nearly 1.25 Lakh users and one of the key insights was user unwillingness to pay for brand premiums this year and instead focus on the functional value of their purchases. Based on these inputs, the festive assortment was expanded in a focused manner by on-boarding additional sellers for popular products like kitchen appliances, kitchenware, bed linen, apparel, footwear and fashion accessories like watches, wallets, etc. Shaping our sale offers around the clearly-stated expectations of our customers and conveying the same unambiguously through our festive promotions and digital marketing is the sum and substance of our festive communication. Q. This year is different. People have been observed to be judicious in spending. How has the consumer sentiment improved? While 2020 has been a volatile year, we see that there are many tailwinds that are propelling our business. The pandemic has resulted in redistribution of demand between offline and online channels, with online gaining share due to its inherent advantages of reach, convenience, large assortment and safety of buying from home. It has also accelerated the familiarity and acceptance of e-commerce amongst new buyers. With the pandemic, consumers have become more price conscious and are likely to opt for lesser-priced products, while not compromising on their quality expectations. Given all of this, we have seen two sets of buyers come on Snapdeal - one which is trading up to a better assortment and one that is trading down and opting for better functional value instead of big brands. In fact, we have added 6 million new buyers on our platform in the pandemic. We are witnessing the return of enthusiasm for festivities and it is also apparent that online channels will be a preferred medium for a larger number of buyers this year. But it will also be different this year, as more people will be price conscious and will look to spend on quality products that suit their price sensibilities. In a way, Snapdeal’s “Kum Me Dum” focus is about “offering more choices at price points better than last year”, especially for popular categories like home &amp; fashion, which has been made possible by year-long focus on expanding our value selection. Q. With the on-going festive season, many other platforms will have their Sales days too. How do you then cut the clutter and make sure you win consumers? How will you be different from the other players in the segment? Snapdeal is synonymous with value e-commerce. While others in the industry are now starting to build a value segment, we at Snapdeal have been focused on “only value” for the last three years. While other platforms are making efforts to sell branded items at discounted prices, these are still not affordable for a majority of the buyers in the country. On the other hand, we are focussed on bringing the depth and diversity of India's bazaars &amp; markets to the doorsteps of our users. On Snapdeal, buyers find endless varieties of regional and local brands that not only serve their needs, but also offer immense value at affordable prices. The result of our “Kum Mein Dum” Diwali sale bears testimony to this - more than 80% of Snapdeal’s Diwali shoppers chose to buy regional &amp; local brands on Snapdeal. The strong growth of lesser-known brands relative to national/international brands has been because of two key reasons: increased choice and a substantial price difference. Our value-focused positioning runs consistently through our selection and communication and is one the reasons why 90% of our orders flow from non-metros cities and towns across the country. Q. What are some of the other trends you are expecting to see this festive? Our first sales results are out and are reflective of how close the lives of users revolve around their homes. The sale in the home products category has grown by 30% over last year and has become the largest category on Snapdeal this year, overtaking the fashion category, which has traditionally been the top-performer at Snapdeal. The growth in the home category is propelled by popular products like kitchen appliances, kitchenware, bed &amp; bath,decor,cleaning equipment, lighting and comforters &amp; blankets etc. This growth in the fitness category reflects the extra time that people have on their hands and also underscores heightened awareness about personal health &amp; fitness. This category has grown by 45% over last year led by gym essentials like tummy trimmers, push-up bars, wrist supports, fitness gloves, hand grip strengtheners etc. Users buying sports equipment like badminton racquets &amp; cricket sets and weighing machines are also strong consumer trends. While the fashion category has also grown from previous years in terms of shipped units, the growth is less than other higher-performing categories. In the fashion category, there is an increased spending on kidswear in the festive season. . Among popular picks in Snapdeal’s Diwali sale are men’s &amp; women’s grooming products, nutritional supplements, religious items (prayer books, temples accessories etc). With the deterioration of air quality in North India, the sale of N95 masks, air-purifier filters, anti-pollution skincare items, skin moisturisers, lip balms has also increased. Snapdeal also witnessed an increase in gifting via e-commerce early in this festive season. The range of festivals starting with Karva Chauth and followed by Dhanteras, Diwali, Bhaiya Dooj and Chhath Puja have become important gifting occasions for users in various parts of the country. While in the previous years, shoppers used e-commerce channels to buy and ship to families &amp; friends in other cities, this year many shoppers in metro cities are also sending gifts to people living in the same cities. This year gift cards have also been hugely popular among people to send to their friends and family, with a 3X surge in orders as compared to the festive sale last year. These included gift cards of travel, entertainment, food and retail brands which were upto 30% off. Q. How are you working towards improving the overall consumer experience? E-Commerce in India has grown beyond the first 100 Mn largely urban, English-speaking users. A market of potentially 400 Mn users is now emerging across India’s smaller non-metro cities. This is a very diverse cohort in terms of languages spoken, literacy levels, frequency of online purchases and familiarity with technology. A large part of Snapdeal’s existing user base and new users come from this cohort and all our focus and efforts are on building the right experience that our users want. That means we work tirelessly to give them a wide array of products to choose from, and at just the right prices they are looking to spend. We also make it easy in many other ways for users to buy on Snapdeal. This includes providing interfaces on our app &amp; m-site in eight Indian languages, so that they can browse through products &amp; transact in a language of their choice. We also enable conversation with our customer service agents in multiple Indian languages. Transaction and promotional messages all are available in many Indian languages. Some other ways, in which we support our users to buy is by helping them make well-informed choices through short 10-second product videos which are far more captivating and help buyers to make decisions faster than static pictures of the products concerned, easy 7-days return, no questions asked refunds policy. We are the only platform that provides uninterrupted access to cash-on-delivery option even during the turbulent early days of pandemic lockdowns. Q. Which are your strongest markets currently? How are you planning to strengthen your presence in other markets? We have a strong pan India presence. During the current sale and consistent with Snapdeal’s positioning, more than 90% of Snapdeal’s orders were placed from non-metro cities. Populous cities like Nagpur, Vijayawada, Surat, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Visakhapatnam, Ranchi, Patna, Guwahati and others continued to drive orders on Snapdeal, but smaller cities like Sagar (Madhya Pradesh), Raniganj &amp; Durgapur (West Bengal), Patiala &amp; Gurdaspur (Punjab), Anand, Bharuch, Una, (Gujarat), Miryalaguda (Andhra Pradesh) and Bhimavaram (Telangana) also clock impressive order volumes. With our recent network expansion, Snapdeal has also shipped orders to rural places like Palasner in Maharashtra, Abdasa in Gujarat, Kalsi in Uttarakhand, Chitkul in Himachal amidst many others. Q. What are your current MAUs? More than 70 million users visit Snapdeal every month to browse and buy from our vast catalogue of 220 million plus listings. Q. What kind of target have you set for this year's sale? Do you anticipate people to buy more, considering a lot of people might have pushed buying things for the festive season? What kind of numbers do you aim to reach this year? Less than five percent of retail is online, which is an incredibly small penetration number. In our view, Diwali or not, our job to bring more buying options for our users doesn’t change. Diwali does serve as a milestone to accelerate some of our related initiatives or build virtual infrastructure to connect the dots between demand and supply in our country. This year, ahead of the festive season, we on-boarded additional sellers of popular products like kitchen appliances, kitchenware, bed linen, apparel, footwear and fashion accessories like watches, wallets, etc., as indicated by our users in a survey. In the run-up to Diwali, Snapdeal also on-boarded 5000 manufacturer-sellers who sell products like water purifiers, choppers &amp; blenders, steel &amp; copper utensils, crockery items, bedsheets, quilts, geysers, etc directly from their manufacturing units. This year, we knew more and more people would be buying online and ahead of the sale, and expanded our network to add 1300 new pin codes to go deeper into areas which were previously unserviceable or where users were compelled to travel to nearby towns to collect their orders, reaching out to 50 million additional users. Today, we are India's leading value-focused marketplace with more than 500,000 registered sellers and we cover 27000 + pin code areas across the length and breadth of the country.

Why Snapdeal targeted non-metro cities and rural India during its pre-Diwali sale

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6398336" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Homeless">Homeless</keyword> TikTokers Phoenix Black and Raven White live outside in Massachusetts, and are unable to afford a home.</li><li>There are half a million Americans who are currently homeless.</li><li>Black and White are now earning up to $200 a day from <keyword id="6762469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="TikTok">TikTok</keyword>. "TikTok may very well be our way out of poverty," said Black.</li></ul>Phoenix Black and Raven White, a couple in their late 20s, once ran a successful e-cigarette business in Massachusetts, manufacturing vape juices and selling products. The pair told Insider they've together for seven years, through thick and thin. For the last few years, things have been thin. Changes to FDA rules around selling e-cigarette products meant that the couple had to shut down their business. The pair got new jobs, but Black says he broke his hand in an accident, and had complications after surgery to place rods to stabilize the injury that kept him in the hospital for two months. Black had no insurance, and bills mounted. That was a year and a half ago."At that point we lost our place and were homeless," says Black. "We tried hotels and AirBnB's, but it got to the point where we couldn't keep up with it with minimum wage jobs." Both Black and White's families (the pair joke that when they marry, they'll become the Grays) weren't able to offer support, the couple says, and their credit scores took a hit. Despite both working, they feel like they can't get back on the housing ladder."Landlords are extremely choosy, so because we don't look good on paper, we haven't been successful at finding an apartment," says Black. Instead, the pair decided to set up a camp in the Massachusetts woods, work on their credit score, and save up in the hopes of buying a house.<h2>Homelessness affects hundreds of thousands of Americans</h2>According to the Council of Economic Advisers, over<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/The-State-of-Homelessness-in-America.pdf"> half a million Americans</a> sleep without a roof over their heads every night in the US. Black and White thought their journey was worth documenting<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbpHKOWzWUoGtHMj9whoUwQ"> on YouTube</a>, where they have 2,600 subscribers, and<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@lessthanahome"> on TikTok</a>, where they've rapidly gained more than 223,000 followers."We've started our social media journeys to try and show a different side to homelessness, to show it can be your average everyday people who find themselves in that position," says Black. "Every winter we see so much misinformation spread and victim-blaming about the homeless we figured we could become a voice for the topic to break down some of the stigmas and stereotypes."The couple encountered the negative stereotypes the first winter they were homeless. Massachusetts winters can be brutal, with snow covering every surface. "You have pictures of people covered in snow sleeping on benches popping up in local Facebook groups," says Black. Some commenters share pity and compassion, while others give their two cents. "'It's drugs, it's their fault, they should have made better choices,'" recounts Black, who has previously worked as a drug and alcohol counselor. "Here I sat, working my job, not on drugs, just trying to survive and already ashamed and embarrassed about my situation to the point I hid it from everyone I associated with," he says. "I see so many people talking horribly about the homeless, just for the simple fact I don't live in a house. It seemed so wrong to me.""We also hoped to inspire others to overcome obstacles in their lives, and to educate people who might ever find themselves in this position." "Also," Black admits, "making social media a secondary career doesn't hurt our situation either."<h2>Becoming Black and White became content creators </h2>The couple's YouTube channel came first: content creation has always been an interest for Black, and he found someone willing to help him edit the longer-form videos on a Facebook group for YouTube content creators. They offered their work for free. The Less Than a Home TikTok channel was set up to drive traffic to YouTube, but ended up eclipsing the video-sharing site. The couple livestream on TikTok every night, and create short videos giving a glimpse into their lives. More importantly, they also produce "homeless pro tips" and videos on how to survive while out in the wild.Each video is seen by tens of thousands of TikTok users, but some of the most popular are "day in the life" style videos. One showing the<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@lessthanahome/video/6883147586694417670"> couple's morning routine</a>, starting from them getting up in their tent to Black brewing a morning coffee for his partner in bed, has been seen 7.3 million times. Another, showing how the couple collects and purifies water, has been seen <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@lessthanahome/video/6879499266637810949">1.5 million times</a>.Their videos announcing White's pregnancy, which was a surprise to both, have also proved popular with the fanbase they've built up online. <h2>TikTok has given the couple hope and inspiration</h2>So far their social media presence has given the couple a creative outlet, but not significant returns. The Less Than A Home YouTube channel isn't eligible for monetization, but Black plans to learn how to edit videos himself, and has invested in a cheap laptop to be able to do so. On TikTok, donations given through the livestreams and TikTok's Creator Fund, which opened applications earlier this summer, have helped the couple earn extra money. "We've gone from $1-2 a day for views to $100-200 a day," Black says. "While I do know the income is dependent on the views moving forward, this is huge. TikTok may very well be our way out of poverty."But it means more than just that. "Above the financial gain is the fact I've met people who care, who empathize, who push me to continue to do better," says Black. "It's an additional level of accountability and we've built bonds with people I can say are like a family. "I never would've believed anyone would care about what a 'homeless person' had to say, especially with the amount of dehumanizing comments I do get at times, but now I have people that actually care about my success," he adds."At the end of the day I'm shining light on the topic of homelessness and trying to break down some of the stigmas around it," he explains. "I'm trying to rehumanize the people who are defined as homeless."The social media success has also had a positive effect on both Black and White's lives. "I feel that despite my situation that I'm valued, and that the impact I make on others' lives is more important to me now," he says. "I no longer feel like a forgotten outcast of society. Through TikTok I feel more a part of it again than ever before.Read more<a href="https://www.insider.com/megan-is-missing-where-watch-tiktok-horror-story-barrel-scene-2020-11">A disturbing 2011 child-abduction horror film called 'Megan is Missing' is going viral on TikTok 9 years after its release</a><a href="https://www.insider.com/jake-paul-first-content-house-austin-mcbroom-catherine-fight-boxing-2020-11">Jake Paul caused controversy by making false claims about his boxing and fighting with the ACE family</a><a href="https://www.insider.com/seraphine-allegations-riot-games-denies-similarities-stephanie-2020-11">Riot Games denied a woman's claim that her image was used without consent for a 'League of Legends' character</a>

2 homeless TikTok creators say the platform could help lift them out of poverty

The 10 best deals from REI's big Cyber Week sale - including up to 50% off Patagonia, Smartwool, and Hydro Flask

<keyword id="7561057" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="cyclone-fani">Cyclone Fani</keyword> is one of the most powerful cyclones to hit <keyword id="6357961" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="odisha">Odisha</keyword> in the last 15 years. To me, it brings back a lot of memories of the 1999 cyclone that caused widespread loss of life and devastation along the coast. The wind velocity and extent of cyclonic activity was the same as the 1999 cyclone. But this time, state and central authorities employed the lessons they learnt from previous cyclones. They also set new benchmarks in preventive rescue and relief operations, which altered the aftermath from one of despair to enduring hope. The impressive handling of cyclone Fani in my home state of Odisha, therefore, holds several lessons for businesses and corporate leaders. Strategy and Planning: The effort and coordination that went into drawing designated 5-page action plans including – multi-stakeholder discussions between local authorities, NDMA, Coast Guard, Indian Navy, Indian Air force, security, and paramilitary forces – indicate the depth of preparedness ahead of Day 0. IMD too issued an accurate warning at least 72 hours in advance. It gave authorities time to prepare for the worst. Similarly, dealing with impending challenges as well as opportunities requires attention to detail and adequate planning. Investing in Technology: Improved satellite imaging capabilities, Met Department's early warning systems and timely inputs helped improve the ability to cope with, and manage difficult situations. The local administration’s reliance on new-age monitoring and communication systems continued to help immensely in evacuation and relief efforts. Today, technology is the key differentiator and enabler across industries. It is therefore important for companies to adapt to changing times and invest in technology to unlock improved levels of efficiency and solve the needs of tomorrow. Harnessing the potential of the youth: A record 1.2 million people were evacuated in 24 hours – 3.2 lakh from Ganjam, 1.3 lakh from Puri. Almost 7,000 kitchens catering to 9,000 shelters were made functional overnight. This mammoth exercise involved more than 45,000 volunteers. Enabling young people to participate and lead grassroot level interventions can help the nation reap rich dividends. It is very important that companies harness the potential and innovation that millennials bring to the table and encourage them to find a bigger purpose, and pursue all-around excellence. At <keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword>, we call all our employees OYOpreneurs since we value their tenacity and entrepreneurial spirit that they embody. Collaboration over competition: The state government received timely information from other forecasting agencies like the Andhra Pradesh government’s Real Time Governance Society (RTGS), the United States Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center, amongst others. We are stronger when we deal with challenges together. It is all the more important to ensure cross-functional collaboration when times are tough – a lesson for corporates and the industry at large. Innovation and thinking on your feet: Ingenuity and innovation helps bridge the gap between strategy and execution. It was interesting to note from reports that at the height of cyclonic activity and rescue operations, a WhatsApp group was created which included – Odisha Chief Secretary, and the respective District Collectors of the vulnerable coastal areas, offering them regular updates which further helped with ensuring timely action. At OYO, many OYOpreneurs refer to me as their Chief Clarity Officer, and I am able to play this role as I am on several WhatsApp groups, including ones with the frontline staff, which helps me stay connected and help navigate through hurdles in a timely manner. Multiple channels of communication: At OYO, we believe that over communication is always better than leaving things to assumption. In tough times, employing multiple channels and mediums to spread the word can help ensure widespread awareness about decisions taken, minimise rumor mongering and establish necessary touchpoints. The authorities in Odisha spread the warning message through multiple mediums — employing television channels, early warning system towers which are structures along the coastline that can blow a siren over a radius of 1.5 kms, and millions of text messages among other modes of communication. Sweat in peace to bleed less in war: When we prepare for adversity during good times, we are better equipped to not just meet, but overcome challenges. Following the 1999 super cyclone, a critical step taken by authorities in Odisha was the construction of hundreds of cyclone shelters along the coast. These two-storey structures, constructed a few kms from the seashore and designed by researchers at IIT Kharagpur, proved their mettle. Each of the estimated 879 multipurpose cyclone shelters housed hundreds of people. On June 19 every year, Odisha holds mock simulations and familiarisation exercises on flood and cyclone management to test the preparedness of ODRAF, NDRF and, fire personnel. Prepping for the last mile: After the cyclone, relief packages and relief fund donations have picked up and require our assistance. The last mile, therefore, is all about maintaining the pace and direction of effort and consistently delivering on promises made for both organisations and relief operations. As we prepare for a better tomorrow, the objective should be to not just get ahead of the problem but find lasting solutions. In a post-cyclone scenario that may mean, constructing cyclone-resistant homes across coastlines. For example, people living across 17,000 houses in Ganjam tehsil did not have to escape to cyclone shelters owing to the structures set up a couple of years ago with the help of WorldBank’s loan assistance programme for affordable housing. For companies and corporate leaders, a post-adversity scenario may mean taking bold decisions, going back to the drawing board where necessary and moving forward on much-needed goals. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cyclone-fani-has-brought-back-horrid-memories-of-the-super-cyclone-in-1999-that-claimed-nearly-10000-lives/articleshow/69158309.cms">Cyclone Fani has brought back horrid memories of the super cyclone in 1999 that claimed nearly 10,000 lives </a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/a-special-bus-is-helping-thousands-of-odisha-fani-victims-get-clean-water-thanks-to-a-giant-purifier-on-board/articleshow/69325190.cms">A special bus is helping thousands of Odisha Fani victims get clean water – thanks to a giant purifier on board</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/effect-on-odisha-without-electricity-seen-using-nasa-satellite/articleshow/69252645.cms">In Pics: How Cyclone Fani plunged 3.4 million homes into darkness</a>

A boy who lived through the 1999 Odisha cyclone is a billionaire now – and here's what he learnt from Fani

<keyword id="605051" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Thomas-Muthoot">Thomas Muthoot</keyword> was born into a family business with retail lending at its core. With the motto 'Empowerment through affordability and convenience,' he has pioneered the art of lending beyond financial considerations and is now the executive director of <a href="http://www.muthoot.com/">Muthoot Fincorp</a>, a division of the Muthoot Pappachan Group, which boasts a variety of unique financial solutions with sustainability at its core. Together, the companies cater to the financial needs of a massive market of underserved people in the world's most populous country — India. 
 
Muthoot drew inspiration from C.K. Prahlad's book, “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid,” which sought to demonstrate how companies worldwide could identify, build and profit from new markets among the word's several billion poorest people, while at the same time help alleviate poverty. Five years after Muthoot first read the book, the ideas are no longer theory to him. He has proven that they work. 
 
 
 <keyword id="242359" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Muthoot-Fincorp">Muthoot Fincorp</keyword> now has a network of more than 3,800 branches across his country. "Our aim is to empower women and alleviate poverty in India," says Muthoot, a member of <a href="http://www.ypo.org/">Young Presidents’ Organization</a> since 2011. “We also started this business inspired by the impact and success of the Grameen Bank, the micro-finance organization in Bangladesh, founded by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus.” 
 
"Within four years we have served more than 1.3 million women by providing them finance, training and welfare," he says. "All of them come from remote, rural villages, and we have tried to make them self-dependent entrepreneurs of their own micro-businesses. Most importantly, we go to these remote places and serve them on their doorstep." 
 The group's organization, <keyword id="3292956" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Muthoot-Mahila-Mitra">Muthoot Mahila Mitra</keyword>, follows the Joint Liability Group (JLG) model of micro-finance. Customers are organized into lending groups of five to 10 women, with each person offered a loan of between Rs10,000-15,000 (USD165-USD250) depending on her repayment capacity, for a tenure of 52 weeks. Within a few years the micro-finance business has attracted 800,000 customers and a loan portfolio of more than USD140 million. 
 
The wellness of clients is equally important and the group conducts financial literacy classes, develops links to markets, runs medical wellness camps and provides water purifiers to those without safe drinking water. 
 
Muthoot also spotted an early opportunity within the vast shortage of low-cost housing in India and was instrumental in setting up the Muthoot Housing Finance Company, of which he is managing director. The company typically offers home loans of up to USD25,000 for a period of 15 years, lending mainly to the low-income, informal sector who cannot secure funding from the formal banking. 
 
Muthoot has instead built up a field-based assessment model that assesses income on the basis of cash flow, without any formal income documentation. Through this approach the company has been able to fulfill the dream of home ownership for more than 5,000 customers. 
 
Power dynamics within these homes are changing too. A recent survey by independent finance agency IntellCash has shown that financial decision-making between husbands and wives has begun to equalize, a result of focusing on women's financial empowerment by Muthoot Fincorp. 
 
"Many women in Indian households are not involved in any economic activities,” says Muthoot. "They haven't even realized their potential. We aim to uplift them to become part of mainstream economic society." 
 
<keyword id="852310" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="YPO">YPO</keyword> (Young Presidents’ Organization) is a not-for-profit, global network of young chief executives connected through the shared mission of becoming Better Leaders Through Education and Idea Exchange™. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.ypo.org/">www.ypo.org</a>. 
 
(The article is written by Grant Schreiber, <a href="http://www.realleaders.media/">Real Leaders</a>)

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